Gemar Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Two children. Born in Yankton, South Dakota, USA. US Army US Army

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 11 - 1985. Inactive Entered space service: 4 June 1985. Left space service: 1996. Number of Flights: 3.00. Total Time: 24.24 days.

NAME: Charles D. (nickname Sam) Gemar (Lieutenant Colonel, USA)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born August 4, 1955 in Yankton, South Dakota, but home is Scotland, South Dakota, where his parents, Mr. & Mrs. Leighton A. Gemar, reside. Married to the former Charlene Stringer of Savannah, Georgia. They have two children. He enjoys water sports, jogging, woodworking, and travel.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Scotland Public High School, Scotland, South Dakota, in 1973; received a bachelor of science degree in engineering from the U. S. Military Academy in 1979.

ORGANIZATIONS:

United States Military Academy Association of Graduates; Army Aviation Association of America; Association of Space Explorers-USA; Mount Rushmore National Monument Preservation Society; Nassau Bay Volunteer Fire Department.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Gemar was Distinguished Graduate of his class in undergraduate pilot training, and Distinguished Graduate of his class in graduate fixed-wing and multi-engine pilot training. Recipient of the Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal, two National Defense Service Medals, National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, NASA Achievement Medal, and three NASA Space Flight Medals. Honorary Doctor of Engineering from the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology. Honorary Chair for Membership of the South Dakota Congress of Parents and Teachers. Member of South Dakota Aviation Hall of Fame. Recipient of South Dakota Newspaper Association 1993 Distinguished Service Award.

EXPERIENCE:

Gemar enlisted in the Army in January 1973 and reported for duty on June 11, 1973. In November 1973, he was assigned to the 18th Airborne Corps at Ft. Bragg, North Carolina, where he received an appointment to the U.S. Military Academy Preparatory School at Ft. Belvoir, Virginia, and later a Department of the Army appointment to join the U.S. Military Academy Class of 1979. After graduation he attended the Infantry Officers Basic Course at Ft. Benning, Georgia, the Initial Entry Rotary Wing Aviation Course and the Fixed Wing Multi-Engine Aviators Course, both at Ft. Rucker, Alabama. In October 1980, he transferred to the 24th Infantry Division, Ft. Stewart, Georgia, where he remained until January 1, 1985. While at Ft. Stewart/Hunter Army Airfield he served as an Assistant Flight Operations Officer and Flight Platoon Leader for the 24th Combat Aviation Battalion, Wright Army Airfield Commander, and Chief, Operations Branch, Hunter Army Airfield. Other military schools completed include the Army Parachutist Course, Ranger School, and the Aviation Officers Advanced Course.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in June 1985, Gemar completed a one-year training and evaluation program and became an astronaut in July 1986. He is qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Since then he has held a variety of technical assignments in support of the Space Shuttle Program including: flight software testing in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); launch support activities at the Kennedy Space Center; spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in mission control during Space Shuttle missions; Chief of Astronaut Appearances. Gemar has flown three times and has logged over 580 hours in space. He flew on STS-38 (November 15-20, 1990), STS-48 (September 12-18, 1991), and STS-62 (March 4-18, 1994).

On his first mission, Gemar served on the five-man crew of STS-38 which launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 15, 1990. During the five-day mission crew members conducted Department of Defense operations. After 80 orbits of the Earth in 117 hours, in the first Shuttle recovery in Florida since 1985, Space Shuttle Atlantis and her crew landed back at the Kennedy Space Center on November 20, 1990.

Gemar then served on the five-man crew of STS-48 aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 12, 1991. During 81 orbits of the Earth, the crew successfully deployed the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS), designed to study the Earth's upper atmosphere on a global scale thus providing scientists with their first complete data set on the upper atmosphere's chemistry, winds and energy inputs, in addition to conducting numerous secondary experiments ranging from growing protein crystals, to studying how fluids and structures react in weightlessness. This five-day mission concluded with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on September 18, 1991. Mission duration was 128 hours.

Gemar's most recent mission was STS-62 aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia, which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on March 4, 1994. This microgravity science and technology demonstration mission carried the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-2) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST-2) payloads. Sixty experiments or investigations were conducted in many scientific and engineering disciplines including materials science, human physiology, biotechnology, protein crystal growth, robotics, structural dynamics, atmospheric ozone monitoring and spacecraft glow. During the spacecraft glow investigation, Columbia's orbital altitude was lowered to 105 nautical miles, the lowest ever flown by a Space Shuttle. STS-62, the second longest Space Shuttle mission to date, concluded after 13 days, 23 hours, and 16 minutes, following 224 orbits of the Earth with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center on March 18, 1994, after traveling 5.8 million miles.

• 15 November 1990 Flight: STS-38. Flight Up: STS-38. Flight Back: STS-38. Flight Time: 4.91 days.

• 12 September 1991 Flight: STS-48. Flight Up: STS-48. Flight Back: STS-48. Flight Time: 5.35 days.

• 4 March 1994 Flight: STS-62. Flight Up: STS-62. Flight Back: STS-62. Flight Time: 13.97 days.

23 May 1984 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 11 selected.. The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm.. Thirteen astronauts, taken from 33 civilians and 133 military applicants for the 1984 selection. 59 of these were screened for the final selection.

• NASA Astronaut Biographies, Johnson Space Center, NASA, 1995-present. Accessed at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/.