Ronald J. Grabe

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Ronald Grabe
NASA astronaut
RankColonel, USAF
Time in space
26d 3h 38m
SelectionNASA Group 9 (1980)
MissionsSTS-51-J
STS-30
STS-42
STS-57
Mission insignia

Ronald John Grabe (born June 13, 1945, in New York, New York), (Col, USAF, Ret.), is a former NASA astronaut.

He has earned the Air Force

.

Education and early career

Grabe graduated from

) in 1967.

He returned to the United States in 1967 to complete pilot training at

.

In 1970, he was reassigned to the 27th Tactical Fighter Wing at Cannon Air Force Base to fly F-100 and

Boscombe Down, United Kingdom, from 1976 to 1979. During this tour of duty, he served as the chief project pilot for the Royal Air Force Harrier and the Royal Navy Sea Harrier. He was an instructor at the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California, when advised of his selection by NASA
.

He has logged more than 5,500 hours flying time.

NASA experience

Grabe became a NASA astronaut in August 1981. He has served as a chief verification pilot for

Astronaut Office. A veteran of four space flights, Grabe served as pilot on STS-51-J (October 3–7, 1985) and STS-30 (May 4–8, 1989), and was the mission commander on STS-42 (January 22–30, 1992) and STS-57
(June 21 to July 1, 1993).

Grabe has logged over 627 hours in space. Effective April 11, 1994, Grabe left NASA and the Air Force to join Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, Virginia.

Space flight experience

STS-51-J, the second Space Shuttle Department of Defense mission, launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 3, 1985. This was the maiden voyage of the Atlantis, the final Orbiter in the Shuttle fleet. After 98 hours of orbital operations, Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on October 7, 1985. Mission duration was 97 hours, 14 minutes, 38 seconds.

Magellan Venus-exploration spacecraft, the first U.S. planetary science mission launched since 1978, and the first planetary probe to be deployed from the Shuttle. Magellan arrived at Venus
in mid-1990, and mapped over 95% of the surface of Venus. Magellan has been one of NASA's most successful scientific missions and continues to operate today gaining information about the Venetian atmosphere and magnetic field. In addition, crew members also worked on secondary payloads involving fluid research in general, chemistry, and electrical storm studies. Following 64 orbits of the Earth, the STS-30 mission concluded with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 8, 1989. Mission duration was 96 hours, 57 minutes, 35 seconds.

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. Mission duration was 193 hours, 14 minutes, 45 seconds.

STS-57 Endeavour launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 21, 1993. The primary mission of this flight was the retrieval of the European Retrievable Carrier satellite (EURECA). Additionally, STS-57 featured the first flight of the Spacehab, a commercially provided middeck augmentation module for the conduct of microgravity experiments. Spacehab carried 22 individual flight experiments in materials processing and human factors. A spacewalk was conducted on this flight as part of an ongoing program to evaluate extravehicular activity (EVA) techniques for future missions. The Space Shuttle Endeavour landed at the Kennedy Space Center on July 1, 1993, after 10 days on orbit. Mission duration was 239 hours, 45 minutes.

He is married to the former Lynn O'Keefe of Ottawa, Canada. Ron has two daughters and he and Lynn have a son. Recreational interests include skiing, wind surfing, and racquet sports.

References

  • "Biographical Data: RONALD J. GRABE (COLONEL, USAF, RET.) NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)" (PDF). NASA. July 1999. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  • Spacefacts biography of Ronald J. Grabe