Precourt Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Three children. Born in Waltham, Massachusetts, USA. US Air Force US Air Force

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 13 - 1990. Inactive Entered space service: 17 January 1990. Left space service: 11 March 2005. Number of Flights: 4.00. Total Time: 38.84 days.

NAME: Charles J. Precourt (Colonel, USAF)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born June 29, 1955, in Waltham, Massachusetts, but considers Hudson, Massachusetts, to be his hometown. Married to the former Lynne Denise Mungle of St. Charles, Missouri. They have three daughters. He enjoys golf and flying light aircraft. He flies a Varieze, an experimental aircraft that he built. His parents, Charles and Helen Precourt, reside in Hudson. Her parents, Loyd and Jerry Mungle, reside in Streetman, Texas.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Hudson High School, Hudson, Massachusetts, in 1973; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1977, a master of science degree in engineering management from Golden Gate University in 1988, and a master of arts degree in national security affairs and strategic studies from the United States Naval War College in 1990. While at the United States Air Force Academy, Precourt also attended the French Air Force Academy in 1976 as part of an exchange program.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the Association of Space Explorers, the Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP), the Soaring Society of America, and the Experimental Aircraft Association.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal (2), and the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal (2). Precourt is a distinguished graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the United States Naval War College. In 1978 he was the Air Training Command Trophy Winner as the outstanding graduate of his pilot training class. In 1989 he was recipient of the David B. Barnes Award as the Outstanding Instructor Pilot at the United States Air ForceTest Pilot School.

EXPERIENCE:

Precourt graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese Air Force Base, Texas, in 1978. Initially he flew as an instructor pilot in the T-37, and later as a maintenance test pilot in the T-37 and T-38 aircraft. From 1982 through 1984, he flew an operational tour in the F-15 Eagle at Bitburg Air Base in Germany. In 1985 he attended the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California. Upon graduation, Precourt was assigned as a test pilot at Edwards, where he flew the F-15E, F-4, A-7, and A-37 aircraft until mid 1989, when he began studies at the United States Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island. Upon graduation from the War College, Precourt joined the astronaut program. His flight experience includes over 5,500 hours in over 50 types of civil and military aircraft. He holds commercial pilot, multi-engine instrument, glider and certified flight instructor ratings.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Precourt became an astronaut in July 1991. His technical assignments to date have included: Manager of ascent, entry, and launch abort issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch; spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM), providing the voice link from the Mission Control Center during launch and entry for several Space Shuttle missions; Director of Operations for NASA at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, from October 1995 to April 1996, with responsibility for the coordination and implementation of mission operations activities in the Moscow region for the joint U.S./Russian Shuttle/Mir program. A veteran of three space flights, STS-55 (April 26-May 6, 1993), STS-71 (June 27 to July 7, 1995), and STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997), Precourt has logged over 696 hours in space.

Precourt flew his first space mission as a mission specialist aboard Columbia on STS-55, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 26, 1993. Nearly 90 experiments were conducted during this German-sponsored Spacelab D-2 mission to investigate life sciences, materials sciences, physics, robotics, astronomy and the Earth and its atmosphere. STS-55 also flew the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment (SAREX) making contact with students in 14 schools around the world. After 160 orbits of the earth in 240 flight hours, the 10-day mission concluded with a landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 6, 1993.

On his second flight (June 27 to July 7, 1995), Precourt was the pilot on the seven-member crew (up) and eight-member crew (down) of Space Shuttle mission STS-71. This was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir, and involved an exchange of crews. The Atlantis Space Shuttle was modified to carry a docking system compatible with the Russian Mir Space Station. It also carried a Spacehab module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections. Mission duration was 235 hours, 23 minutes.

Most recently, he served as crew commander of a seven-member international crew on STS-84 (May 15-24, 1997). This was NASA's sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. In completing this 9-day mission, Precourt traveled 3.6 million miles in 144 orbits of the Earth logging a total of 221 hours and 20 minutes in space.

• 25 April 1993 Flight: STS-55. Flight Up: STS-55. Flight Back: STS-55. Flight Time: 9.99 days.

• 27 June 1995 Flight: STS-71. Flight Up: STS-71. Flight Back: STS-71. Flight Time: 9.81 days.

• 15 May 1997 Flight: STS-84. Flight Up: STS-84. Flight Back: STS-84. Flight Time: 9.22 days.

• 2 June 1998 Flight: STS-91. Flight Up: STS-91. Flight Back: STS-91. Flight Time: 9.83 days.

17 January 1990 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 13 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.. Reported to the Johnson Space Center in late July 1990 to begin their year long training. Chosen from 1945 qualified applicants, then 106 finalists screened between September and November 1989.