G. David Low

David Low
David Low
	NASA astronaut
Time in space	29d 18h 5m
Selection	NASA Group 10 (1984)
Missions	STS-32; STS-43; STS-57
Mission insignia
Retirement	1996

George David Low (February 19, 1956 – March 15, 2008)^[1] was an American aerospace executive and a NASA astronaut. With undergraduate degrees in physics and mechanical engineering and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics, he worked in the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) at the California Institute of Technology in the early 80's, before being picked as an astronaut candidate by NASA in 1984. In addition to holding some technical assignments, he logged more than 700 hours in space (including stints on the Columbia, the Atlantis, and the Endeavour Space Shuttles), before he left NASA in 1996 to pursue a career in the private sector. He was the son of George M. Low, the manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office, and later, the 14th president of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Personal life

Low was born February 19, 1956, in

Life Scout. He was married to the former JoAnn Andochick of Weirton, West Virginia. They had three children. He enjoyed tennis, lacrosse, scuba diving, running, and spending time with his family. In 1968 it was his father who proposed that Apollo 8

fly to the Moon. Low died of

colon cancer on March 15, 2008, at Reston Hospital Center in Virginia.^[3]

Education

Low graduated from

Washington & Lee University in 1978, a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Cornell University in 1980, and a Master of Science degree in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University in 1983. He also went to Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University

.

Organizations

Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
Member of Omicron Delta Kappa
Member of Phi Kappa Sigma

Awards and honors

NASA Space Flight Medals (3)
NASA Exceptional Service Medal
NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal
honorary doctorate of engineering degree from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Cygnus Orb-D1 spacecraft, the first Cygnus to travel, was named the S.S. G. David Low in his memory. All subsequent Cygnus spacecraft are named for personnel involved in space.

Aerospace career

Low worked in the Spacecraft Systems Engineering Section of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory,

Galileo spacecraft. Following a one-year leave to pursue graduate studies, Low returned to JPL where he was the principal spacecraft systems engineer for the Mars Geoscience/Climatology Orbiter

(Mars Observer) mission.

NASA career

Selected by NASA in May 1984 as an astronaut candidate, Low became an astronaut in June 1985. He held a variety of technical assignments including work on the

spacewalk. He was a mission specialist on STS-32 (January 9-20, 1990) and STS-43 (August 2-11, 1991), and was the payload commander on STS-57

(June 21 to July 1, 1993).

Low left NASA in February 1996 to pursue an aerospace career with Orbital Sciences Corporation's Launch Systems Group in Dulles, Virginia.

Spaceflight experience

On his first mission, Low was a crew member on STS-32 which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on January 9, 1990. On board the Space Shuttle Columbia the crew successfully deployed the Syncom IV-F5 communications satellite, and retrieved the 21,400-pound Long Duration Exposure Facility (LDEF) using the Canadarm or SRMS. They also operated a variety of middeck materials and life sciences experiments, as well as the IMAX camera. Following 173 orbits of the Earth in 261 hours, Columbia returned to a night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 20, 1990.

Low next served as the flight engineer aboard the

Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E), in addition to conducting 32 physical, material, and life science experiments, mostly relating to the Extended Duration Orbiter (EDO) and Space Station Freedom. After 142 orbits of the Earth

in 213 hours, the mission concluded with a landing on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center on August 11, 1991.

On

Peter J.K. Wisoff

, conducted a 5-hour, 50-minute spacewalk during which the EURECA communications antennas were manually positioned for latching, and various extravehicular activity (EVA) tools and techniques were evaluated for use on future missions. Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 1, 1993, after 155 orbits of the Earth in 239 hours.

References

^ "G. DAVID LOW, NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)" (PDF). NASA. March 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
^ "George M. Low". NASA.gov. NASA. June 30, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2023.
^ Joe Holley, Washington Post Staff Writer (March 20, 2008). "Obituaries: G. David Low, 52: Cerebral Astronaut Flew on 3 Shuttles". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 21, 2008.

External links

"G. DAVID LOW, NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)" (PDF). NASA. March 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2021.
Spacefacts biography of G. David Low

[Nasa_bio-1] "G. DAVID LOW, NASA ASTRONAUT (DECEASED)" (PDF). NASA. March 2008. Retrieved May 24, 2021. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

[2] "George M. Low". NASA.gov. NASA. June 30, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2023.

[3] Joe Holley, Washington Post Staff Writer (March 20, 2008). "Obituaries: G. David Low, 52: Cerebral Astronaut Flew on 3 Shuttles". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 21, 2008.

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