Mary L. Cleave
Mary Cleave | |
---|---|
NASA astronaut | |
Time in space | 10d 22h 2m |
Selection | NASA Group 9 (1980) |
Missions | STS-61-B STS-30 |
Mission insignia | |
Retirement | 2007 |
Mary Louise Cleave (February 5, 1947 – November 27, 2023) was an American engineer and NASA astronaut. She also served from 2005 to 2007 as NASA Associate Administrator for the Science Mission Directorate.[1]
Early life
Cleave was born in
Education
In 1965 Cleave graduated from
Academic career
Cleave held graduate research, research
Her work included research on the productivity of the
NASA career
Cleave was selected as an astronaut in May 1980.
Cleave left JSC in May 1991 to join NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. She worked in the Laboratory for Hydrospheric Processes as the Project Manager for SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing, Wide-Field-of-view-Sensor), an ocean colour sensor which is monitoring vegetation globally. Cleave served as Associate Administrator, Science Mission Directorate, NASA Headquarters, Washington, D.C. She stepped down from that position in April 2007,[2] and was succeeded by Dr. Alan Stern.
Spaceflight experience
Looking at the Earth, particularly the Amazon rainforest, the amount of deforestation I could see, just in the five years between my two space flights down there, scared the hell out of me.
— "Annapolis resident Mary Cleave, the first woman to fly on NASA’s space shuttle after Challenger disaster, dies at 76", Capital Gazette, 2023-12-03
In early 1990, Cleave was selected as Mission Specialist 3 for the STS-42 mission but withdrew herself for personal reasons shortly after her selection was announced.
Death
Cleave died from a stroke at her home in Annapolis, Maryland, on November 27, 2023, at the age of 76.[2][6]
Honors and commemoration
In 1995 Cleave featured on a postal stamp in a series issued in Azerbaijan to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the first manned moon landing.[7]
On January 18, 2009, as the inaugural speaker in the Heyden Distinguished Lecture Series, Cleave told students and others at Georgetown University about her education and career and showed an original film of her shuttle mission in 1985.
Organizations
- Society for Professional Engineers
- Association of Space Explorers
- Women in Aerospace
- Tri Beta, Beta Beta Beta
- Sigma Xi
- Tau Beta Pi
References
- ^ "NASA - NASA Announces New Leaders for Science Mission Directorate".
- ^ a b c d Sandomir, Richard (December 13, 2023). "Mary Cleave, Who Glimpsed a Blighted Earth From Space, Dies at 76". The New York Times. Retrieved December 13, 2023.
- ^ Moss Greenberg, Jill (June 6, 2012). "A Maryland Woman Who Soars! Mary L. Cleave – Astronaut". Maryland Women's Journal. Archived from the original on July 15, 2012. Retrieved July 6, 2013.
- ^ "Following Her Nose to the Stars". Utah State Magazine. December 19, 2019. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
- ^ "Mary L. Cleave Oral History". historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ "NASA Remembers Trailblazing Astronaut, Scientist Mary Cleave". NASA. Retrieved November 30, 2023.
- ^ "Stamp: Mary L. Cleave (USA) (Azerbaijan(25th Anniversary Of First Manned Moon Landing) Mi:AZ 206,Sn:AZ 485a,Yt:AZ 202". Colnect. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
External links
- "Biographical Data: MARY L. CLEAVE (PH.D., P.E.) NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. February 2007. Retrieved January 12, 2021.
- Spacefacts biography of Mary L. Cleave