Kent Rominger

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Kent Rominger
NASA astronaut
RankCaptain, USN
Time in space
67d 2h 58m
SelectionNASA Group 14 (1992)
MissionsSTS-73
STS-80
STS-85
STS-96
STS-100
Mission insignia

Kent Vernon "Rommel" Rominger (born August 7, 1956) is an American former

ATK Launch Systems Group in 2006 as Vice President of Advanced Programs.[2]

Personal data

Kent Rominger was born August 7, 1956, in

. He and his wife Mary Sue have one daughter.

Naval service

Rominger received his commission through the Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate (AVROC) Program in 1979, and was designated a

USS Nimitz
.

He has logged over 5,000 flying hours in over 35 types of aircraft and 685 carrier landings.

NASA career

Selected by NASA in March 1992, Rominger reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and qualified for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Rominger was initially assigned to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch, and deputy director, Flight Crew Operations. A veteran of five space flights, Rominger has logged over 1,600 hours in space These were all as a STS Orbiter crew member, the highest total in this category. He flew as pilot on STS-73 in 1995, STS-80 in 1996 and STS-85 in 1997, and was crew commander on STS-96 in 1999 and STS-100 in 2001. Rominger served as Chief of the Astronaut Office and professional head of the NASA Astronaut Corps from 2002 to 2006, responsible for the mission preparation activities of all Space Shuttle and future International Space Station crews and their support personnel.

Space flight experience

STS-73 in Space Shuttle Columbia (October 20 to November 5, 1995) was the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission. The mission focused on materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, fluid dynamics, and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized Spacelab module. In completing his first space flight, Rominger orbited the Earth 256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total of 15 days, 21 hours, and 52 minutes in space.[3]

STS-80, also in Columbia (November 19 to December 7, 1996) was a 17-day mission during which the crew deployed and retrieved the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) and the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ORFEUS) satellites. The free-flying WSF created a super vacuum in its wake and grew thin film wafers for use in

Shuttle Pallet Satellite
, studied the origin and makeup of stars. In completing his second space flight, Rominger orbited the Earth a record 278 times, traveled over 7 million miles and logged 17 days, 15 hours and 53 minutes in space.

STS-85 in

Earth's atmosphere and tested technology destined for use on the future International Space Station. The mission was accomplished in 189 Earth orbits, traveling 4.7 million miles in 11 days, 20 hours and 27 minutes.[3]

STS-96, also in Discovery, (May 27 to June 6, 1999) was a 10-day mission during which the crew delivered 4 tons of logistics and supplies to the International Space Station in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to live on the station. The mission included the first docking of a Space Shuttle to the International Space Station and was accomplished in 153 Earth orbits, traveling 4 million miles in 9 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes.[3]

STS-100, in Space Shuttle Endeavour (April 19 to May 1, 2001) was a 12-day mission during which the crew installed the Canadian-built Robotic Arm and the Rafaello Logistics Module to the International Space Station. Endeavour was docked 8-days on the most complex robotics flight in the history of the Space Shuttle program and was made up of a very diverse international crew, representing the United States, Russia, Canada and Italy. The mission was completed in 187 Earth orbits, traveling 4.9 million miles in 11 days, 21 hours and 30 minutes.[3]

Organizations

He is a member of the Association of Space Explorers, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the Association of Naval Aviation, The Mars Generation, and the Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Society.

Awards and honors

He has been awarded the

Naval Air Test Center Test Pilot of the Year in 1988. He received the Society of Experimental Test Pilots Ray E. Tenhoff Award in 1990, the Jack Northrop Award in 1996, and the Colorado State University Distinguished Service Award in 1997. He was named West Coast Tomcat Fighter Pilot of the Year in 1992 and was listed in the Top Ten Carrier Landing Distinction in Airwings Two and Nine. In 2000 he was nominated and inducted into the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame.[4] He is an inductee into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.[5]

References

  1. ^ Legler R. D. and Bennett F. V. (2011). "Space Shuttle Missions Summary, NASA TM-2011-216142" (PDF). NASA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-26.
  2. ^ "Kent Rominger Joins ATK Launch Systems Group As VP Advanced Programs". Spacedaily. 2006-10-26. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  3. ^
    National Aeronautics and Space Administration."KENT V. ROMINGER (CAPTAIN, USN, RET.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)"
    (PDF). NASA. October 2006. Retrieved May 15, 2021.
  4. ^ Holmes, Charles W., Editor, Honoree Album of the Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame, The Colorado Aviation Historical Society, 1999, Audubon Media Corp., Audubon, IA.
  5. ^ "U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame". Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. Retrieved 23 March 2018.

External links

NASA

Preceded by Chief of the Astronaut Office
2002–2006
Succeeded by
Steven W. Lindsey