Charles J. Precourt

Charles Precourt
Charles Precourt
	NASA astronaut
Rank	Colonel, USAF
Time in space	38d 20h 16m
Selection	NASA Group 13 (1990)
Missions	STS-55; STS-71; STS-84; STS-91
Mission insignia

Charles Joseph Precourt (born June 29, 1955) is a retired NASA astronaut. His career in flight began at an early age, and spans his entire lifetime. He served in the US Air Force, piloted numerous jet aircraft, and piloted and commanded the Space Shuttle. Notably, he piloted or commanded several missions which involved docking with the Russian Mir space station and was heavily involved in Russian/US Space relations as well as the International Space Station collaboration. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1998 to 2002. He retired from the USAF with the rank of colonel.

Biography

Precourt was born on June 29, 1955, in

United States Naval War College in 1990. While at the United States Air Force Academy, Precourt also attended the French Air Force Academy in 1976 as part of an exchange program. He is fluent in French and Russian

.

Precourt retired from NASA in 2004 and is a vice president at

Orbital ATK

in Utah.

Personal life

He is married to the former Lynne Denise Mungle of

Varieze, an experimental aircraft

that he built.

Precourt became a grandfather following the births of two grandsons in 2009 and 2010.

Organizations

Vice president of the Association of Space Explorers
Associate fellow of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots
Member and on the board of directors of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Special honors

Military decorations include:

Legion of Merit

Defense Superior Service Medal (with oak leaf cluster)

Distinguished Flying Cross

Meritorious Service Medal

(with oak leaf cluster)

National Defense Service Medal

Distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Naval War College Distinguished Graduate Leadership Award
Air Training Command Trophy Winner as the outstanding graduate of his pilot training class (1978)
Recipient of the David B. Barnes Award as the Outstanding Instructor Pilot at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School (1989)

NASA awards include:

NASA Distinguished Service Medal

NASA Exceptional Service Medal and

NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal

NASA Space Flight Medal (with three oak leaf clusters)

Charles Precourt was inducted into the NASA

Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 5, 2012^[1]

in a ceremony that took place the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.

Experience

Precourt graduated from

A-37 Dragonfly aircraft until mid-1989, when he began studies at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon graduation from the War College, Precourt joined the astronaut program. His flight experience includes over 7,500 hours in over 60 types of civil and military aircraft. He holds commercial pilot, multi-engine instrument, glider and certified flight instructor ratings. Precourt retired from the Air Force on March 31, 2000.^[2]

NASA experience

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Precourt became an

Shuttle-Mir Program

.

From May 1996 to September 1998, he served as Acting Assistant Director (Technical), Johnson Space Center. From October 1998 through November 2002, Precourt was chief of the Astronaut Corps, responsible for the mission preparation activities of all space shuttle and future International Space Station crews and their support personnel. From November 2002 until his 2004 retirement from NASA, Precourt served as the deputy manager for the International Space Station, responsible for the day-to-day management of ISS operations, on orbit assembly and the interfaces with NASA contractors and the International Partners.

A veteran of four space flights, he has logged over 932 hours in space.^[2] He served as a mission specialist on STS-55 (April 26 to May 6, 1993), was the pilot on STS-71 (June 27 to July 7, 1995), and was the spacecraft commander on STS-84 (May 15–24, 1997) and STS-91 (June 2–12, 1998), the final scheduled Shuttle-Mir docking mission, concluding the joint U.S./Russian Phase I Program.

Space flight experience

atmosphere. STS-55 also flew the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) making contact with students in 14 schools around the world. After 160 orbits of Earth in 240 flight hours, the 10-day mission concluded with a landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California

, on May 6, 1993.

Spacehab module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections. STS-71 Atlantis launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Mission duration was 235 hours, 23 minutes.^[2]

STS-84 Atlantis (May 15–24, 1997) carried a seven-member international crew. This was NASA's sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. During the 9-day flight, the crew conducted a number of secondary experiments and transferred nearly 4 tons of supplies and experiment equipment between the Space Shuttle and the Mir station. STS-84 Atlantis launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. Mission duration was 221 hours and 20 minutes.^[2]

STS-91 Discovery (June 2–12, 1998) was the 9th and final Shuttle-Mir docking mission and marked the conclusion of the highly successful joint U.S./Russian Phase I Program. The crew, including a Russian cosmonaut, performed logistics and hardware resupply of the Mir during four docked days. They also conducted the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment, which involved the first of its kind research of antimatter in space. Mission duration was 235 hours, 54 minutes.^[2]

References

^ [1] Collect Space
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "CHARLES J. PRECOURT (COLONEL, USAF, RET.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. March 2005. Retrieved May 15, 2021.

Preceded by Kenneth D. Cockrell	Chief of the Astronaut Office 1998–2002	Succeeded by Kent Rominger

[1] [1] Collect Space

[nasabio-2] "CHARLES J. PRECOURT (COLONEL, USAF, RET.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. March 2005. Retrieved May 15, 2021.

[1]

[2]