Rick Douglas Husband (July 12, 1957 – February 1, 2003) (Colonel, USAF) was an American astronaut and fighter pilot.
1957 | Born in Amarillo, Potter, Texas, USA. |
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1980 | Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Texas Tech University. Joined the US Air Force. During his Air Force career, he was awarded the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, the Meritorious Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal. |
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1982 | Married Evelyn June Neely on 27 Feb 1982 in Randall, Texas, USA[1] | |||||
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1990 | Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Fresno State University. | |||||
1994 | Selected by NASA in Astronauts Group 15. [2] | |||||
1999 | Flew on Discovery STS-96 as Pilot with Kent Rominger, Daniel Barry, Ellen Ochoa, Tamara E. Jernigan, Julie Payette and Valery Tokarev. Awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal, his first of 2. [3] | |||||
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2003 | Flew on Columbia STS-107 as Commander with William C. McCool, David M. Brown, Kalpana Chawla, Michael P. Anderson, Laurel B. Clark and Ilan Ramon. Awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the NASA Space Flight Medal, his second of 2. [3] Died when the Columbia broke apart during reentry. |
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2004 | Awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. [4] |
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Columbia's commander, Rick Husband, aged 45, was a US air force colonel recruited to the space programme in 1994. He made his first flight in 1999; last week's was his second. Like many of the current generation of astronauts, his fascination with space exploration was inspired by the first moon landings of 1969.
Born in Amarillo, Texas, Husband took a BSc in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1980, and earned the outstanding engineering student award. After training as a USAF pilot, in 1981 he transferred to an F-4 squadron, becoming an F-4E instructor pilot in 1985. In 1987, he became a test pilot based at Edwards air force base, California.
Five years later, he went to the aircraft and armament evaluation establishment at Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, as an exchange test pilot with the RAF. He logged more than 3,800 hours of flight time in more than 40 different types of aircraft before joining Nasa, in December 1994, for astronaut training at the Johnson space centre, Houston.
Before he first went into space, as pilot on shuttle flight 96 Discovery (May 27 to June 6 1999), Husband worked with design teams experimenting with space shuttle upgrades, and studies to return to the moon and travel to Mars. During his first mission, the crew performed the first docking with the international space station (ISS) and delivered four tons of logistics and supplies in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to live on the station early next year.
He was married with two children.
Rick Douglas Husband, born July 12 1957; died February 1 2003. [5]
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Categories: United States Air Force | Defense Distinguished Service Medal | Meritorious Service Medal (United States) | National Defense Service Medal | Space Shuttle Columbia STS-107 | NASA Astronauts | Congressional Space Medal of Honor | Space Shuttle Astronauts | Space Shuttle Commanders | Space Shuttle Pilots | NASA Distinguished Service Medal | NASA Space Flight Medal | Llano Cemetery, Amarillo, Texas | United States of America, Notables | Notables