- Scott E. Parazynski
Infobox Astronaut
name =Scott Edward Parazynski
type =NASA Astronaut
status =Active
nationality =American
date_birth =Birth date and age|1961|7|28|mf=yes
place_birth =Little Rock, Arkansas
occupation =Medical Doctor
selection =1992 NASA Group
time = 57 days, 15 hours, 34 minutes
mission =STS-66 ,STS-86 ,STS-95 ,STS-100 ,STS-120
insignia =|Scott Edward Parazynski, M.D. (b.
July 28 ,1961 inLittle Rock, Arkansas ) is an American physician and aNASA astronaut . Parazynski's latest mission wasSTS-120 in October, 2007. This was his fifth space mission.Personal
Parazynski considers
Palo Alto, California , andEvergreen, Colorado , to be hishometown s. He is married to the former Gail Marie Vozzella. They have two children. Scott enjoysmountaineering ,rock climbing ,fly ing,scuba diving ,skiing ,travel ,woodworking , andnature photography . A commercial, multi-engine, seaplane and instrument-rated pilot, Parazynski has logged over 2000 flight hours in a variety of aircraft. As a mountaineer, his summits includeCerro Aconcagua (at convert|22841|ft|m above sea level, the tallestmountain in the world outside ofAsia ) and 48 ofColorado 's peaks over convert|14000|ft|m inaltitude . He also climbedMount Everest , the tallest mountain in the world, but elected to turn back before the summit due to a back injury.Education
Parazynski attended junior high school in
Dakar, Senegal , andBeirut, Lebanon . He attended high school at theTehran American School ,Iran , and the American Community School,Athens, Greece , graduating in 1979. He received aBachelor of science degree inbiology fromStanford University in 1983, continuing on to graduate with honors fromStanford Medical School in 1989. He served his medical internship at theBrigham and Women's Hospital ofHarvard Medical School (1990). He had completed 22 months of a residency program in emergency medicine inDenver, Colorado when selected for the NASA Astronaut Corps.Organizations
Parazynski is a member of the
Aerospace Medical Association , theAmerican Society for Gravitational and Space Biology , theWilderness Medical Society , theAmerican Alpine Club , theAssociation of Space Explorers , theExperimental Aircraft Association , and theAircraft Owners and Pilots Association .Awards and honors
*National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Training Award in Cancer Biology (1983)
*Rhodes Scholarship finalist (1984)
*NASA Graduate Student Researcher's Award (1988)
*Stanford Medical Scholars Program (1988)
*Research Honors Award fromStanford Medical School (1989)
*NASA-Ames Certificate of Recognition (1990)
*Wilderness Medical Society Research Award (1991)
*Space Station Team Excellence Award (1996)
*NASA Exceptional Service Medal s (1998, 1999)
*NASA Space Flight Medal s (1994, 1997, 1998, 2001)
*NASA Distinguished Service Medal (2002)While in medical school, he competed on the United States Development
Luge Team and was ranked among the top ten competitors in the nation during the 1988 Olympic Trials. He also served as an Olympic Team Coach for thePhilippines during the1988 Olympic Winter Games inCalgary, Canada .Medical career
While an
undergraduate atStanford University , Parazynski studiedantigenic shift inAfrican Sleeping Sickness , using sophisticatedmolecular biology techniques. While inmedical school , he was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Fellowship and conductedresearch atNASA Ames Research Center onfluid shifts that occur during humanspace flight . Additionally, he has been involved in the design of severalexercise devices that are being developed for long-durationspace flight , and has conducted research on high-altitude acclimatization . Parazynski has numerous publications in the field of spacephysiology , and has a particular expertise in human adaptation to stressful environments (ecology ).NASA career
Selected as an astronaut in March 1992, Parazynski reported to the
Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and evaluation, and was qualified as a Mission Specialist. Parazynski initially served as one of the crew representatives forextra-vehicular activity (EVA) in the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch. Following his first flight, he was assigned as a backup for the third American long-duration stay aboardRussia 'sspace station Mir , and was expected to serve as a prime crew member on a subsequent mission. He spent five months in training at theGagarin Cosmonaut Training Center ,Star City, Moscow , Russia.In October 1995, when sitting-height parameters raised concerns about his fitting safely in the
Soyuz spacecraft in the event of an emergency on-board the Mir station, he was deemed too tall for the mission and was withdrawn from Mir training. He has served as the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch crew representative forSpace Shuttle , Space Station and Soyuz training, and also served as Deputy (Operations and Training) of the Astronaut Office ISS Branch. Most recently, he served as Chief of the Astronaut Office EVA Branch. A veteran of five space flights,STS-66 (1994),STS-86 (1997),STS-95 (1998),STS-100 (2001), andSTS-120 (2007), Parazynski has logged over 1,019 hours (6 weeks) in space, including 47 hours of EVA, and traveled over 17 million miles. Parazynski's most recent mission isSTS-120 mission, during which he will perform four spacewalks to continue International Space Station assembly. He will become only the second NASA astronaut to perform four spacewalks during a single shuttle mission.Spaceflight experience
The
STS-66 AtmosphericLaboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) mission was launched fromKennedy Space Center ,Florida , onNovember 3 ,1994 , and returned to land atEdwards Air Force Base ,California , onNovember 14 , 1994. ATLAS-3 was part of an on-going program to determine the earth'senergy balance and atmospheric change over an 11-yearsolar cycle , particularly with respect to humanity's impact on global-ozone distribution. Parazynski had responsibility for a number of on-orbit activities including operation of the ATLAS experiments andSpacelab Pallet, as well as several secondary experiments in the crew cabin. He and his crewmates also successfully evaluated the Interlimb Resistance Device, a free-floating exercise he developed to preventmusculoskeletal atrophy inmicrogravity .Space Shuttle Atlantis circled the earth 175 times and traveled over 4.5 million miles during its 262-hour and 34-minute flight.STS-86 Atlantis (September 25 to October 6, 1997) was the seventh mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. Highlights of the mission included the exchange of U.S. crew membersMichael Foale andDavid Wolf , the transfer of 10,400 pounds of science and logistics, and the first Shuttle-based joint American-Russian spacewalk. Parazynski served as the flight engineer (MS2) during the flight, and was also the navigator during the Mir rendezvous. Parazynski (EV1) and Russiancosmonaut Vladimir Titov performed a 5 hour, 1 minutespacewalk during which they retrieved four experiment packages first deployed during theSTS-76 Shuttle-Mir docking mission. They also deployed the Spektr Solar Array Cap, which was designed to be used in a future Mir spacewalk to seal a leak in the Spektr module's damaged hull. Other objectives of EVA included the evaluation of common EVA tools to be used by astronauts wearing either Russian or American-made spacesuits, and a systems flight test of the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER). Space Shuttle Atlantis circled the earth 169 times and traveled over 4.2 million miles during its 259-hour and 21-minute flight, landing at the Kennedy Space Center.STS-95 Discovery (October 29 toNovember 7 ,1998 ) was a nine-day mission during which the crew supported a variety of research payloads, including deployment of the Spartan solar-observing spacecraft and the testing of theHubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform. The crew also conducted investigations on the correlation between space flight and the aging process. Parazynski was the flight engineer (MS2) for the mission, as well as the navigator for the Spartan spacecraft rendezvous. During the flight, he also operated the Shuttle's robotic arm in support of the testing of several space-vision systems being considered for ISS assembly. In addition, he was responsible for monitoring several life sciences investigations, including those involving crewmate Senator John Glenn. The mission was accomplished in 134 earth orbits, traveling 3.6 million miles in 213 hours and 44 minutes.STS-100 Endeavour (April 19 toMay 1 ,2001 ) was the 9th mission to the International Space Station (ISS) Alpha during which the crew successfully delivered and installed the Space Station "Canadarm2" robotic arm, to be used for all future Space Station assembly and maintenance tasks. Parazynski conducted two spacewalks with Canadian colleagueChris Hadfield to assemble and power the next generation robotic arm. Additionally, the pair installed a newUHF radio antenna for space-to-space communications during Space Shuttle rendezvous and ISS extravehicular activity. A critical on-orbit spare, adirect current switching unit, was also transferred to Alpha during the 14 hours and 50 minutes of EVA work. Also during the flight, Parazynski operated Endeavour's robotic arm to attach, and later detach, the Italian-built "Raffaello"Multi-Purpose Logistics Module . Traveling 4.9 million miles in 283 hours and 30 minutes, the mission was accomplished in 186 earth orbits.References
*cite web | last = | first = | authorlink = | coauthors = | year = | url =http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-558.aspx | title =Astronauts and the BSA | format = | work =Fact sheet | publisher =Boy Scouts of America | accessdate =2006-09-06
* [http://www.fil-luge.org/news/news-detail/article/former-luge-athlete-on-board-space-shuttle-discovery.html?tx_ttnews%5BbackPid%5D=45&cHash=91a40daf62 FIL-luge.org article on Parazynski] - Accessed 10-26-2007.
* [http://www.leicesterview.co.uk/artykuly/homepage/94 Interview with Parazynski on his dramatic spacewalk to repair the space station solar array and his Polish roots] - Accessed 1-06-2008.External links
* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/parazyns.html NASA bio of Parazynski]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/parazynski_scott.htm Spacefacts biography of Parazynski]
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