David C. Hilmers

David Hilmers
NASA astronaut
Rank	Colonel, USMC
Time in space	20d 14h 16m
Selection	NASA Group 9 (1980)
Missions	STS-51-J STS-26 STS-36 STS-42
Mission insignia

David Carl Hilmers (born January 28, 1950) is a former NASA astronaut who flew four Space Shuttle missions. He was born in Clinton, Iowa, but considers DeWitt, Iowa, to be his hometown. He has two grown sons. His recreational interests include playing the piano, gardening, electronics, spending time with his family, and all types of sports. His parents are deceased. With five academic degrees, he is the second most formally educated U.S. astronaut, behind Story Musgrave with six.

Education

Graduated from Central Community High School in

(UTHealth) in 2002.

Experience

Hilmers entered active duty with the

, at the time of his selection by NASA.

NASA experience

Hilmers was selected a NASA astronaut in July 1980 and completed the initial training period in August 1981. In 1983 he was selected as a member of the launch-ready standby crew. His early NASA assignments have included work on rocket upper stages such as

spacecraft on an interplanetary trajectory using a Centaur upper stage. This mission was to have flown in May 1986, but the Shuttle Centaur project was terminated in July 1986, and Hilmers then worked in the areas of ascent abort development, payload safety, and Shuttle on-board software. During 1987 he was involved in training for STS-26 and in flight software development. He later became head of the Mission Development branch in the astronaut office.

A veteran of four space flights, he has logged over 493 hours in space. He served as a mission specialist on STS-51-J (October 3–7, 1985), STS-26 (September 29 to October 3, 1988), STS-36 (February 28 to March 4, 1990), and STS-42 (January 22–30, 1992).

Space flight experience

STS-51-J Atlantis, a classified Department of Defense mission, launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 3, 1985. This was the maiden voyage of the Orbiter Atlantis. Hilmers had prime responsibility for a number of on-orbit activities during the mission. After 98 hours of orbital operations, Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 7, 1985.

(TDRS-C), which was subsequently carried to orbit by the Inertial Upper Stage (IUS) rocket. They also operated eleven mid-deck experiments. Discovery completed 64 orbits of the Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 3, 1988.

STS-36 Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 28, 1990. This mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 72 orbits of the Earth, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 4, 1990, after traveling 1.87 million miles.

Hilmers replaced Manley Lanier "Sonny" Carter Jr., killed in a plane crash, for his last mission.^[1] STS-42 Discovery launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on January 22, 1992. Fifty-five major experiments conducted in the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 module were provided by investigators from eleven countries, and represented a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. During 128 orbits of the Earth, the STS-42 crew accomplished the mission's primary objective of investigating the effects of microgravity on materials processing and life sciences. In this unique laboratory in space, crew members worked around-the-clock in two shifts. Experiments investigated the microgravity effects on the growth of protein and semiconductor crystals. Biological experiments on the effects of zero gravity on plants, tissues, bacteria, insects and human vestibular response were also conducted. This eight-day mission culminated in a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 30, 1992.

Post-NASA experience

Hilmers decided to apply to medical school while training for his third shuttle flight. He attended

. In addition to his teaching and clinical duties, he is involved in research in global health and malnutrition in many countries. He spends much of his spare time providing humanitarian medical care locally in Houston and in developing nations, including disaster relief efforts in Iraq, Peru, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Haiti, and in Liberia during the Ebola outbreak in 2014.

References

"DAVID C. HILMERS (COLONEL, USMC, RET.) NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. December 1993. Retrieved March 21, 2021.

External links

• Spacefacts biography of David C. Hilmers
• "DAVID C. HILMERS (COLONEL, USMC, RET.) NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. December 1993. Retrieved March 21, 2021.

References