Readdy Credit - www.spacefacts.de

Personal: Male, Married, Three children. Born in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, USA. US Navy US Navy

Astronaut Career

Astronaut Group: NASA Group 12 - 1987. Inactive Entered space service: 5 June 1987. Left space service: 14 October 2005. Number of Flights: 3.00. Total Time: 28.03 days.

NAME: William F. Readdy (Captain, U.S. Naval Reserve)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born January 24, 1952, in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, but considers McLean, Virginia, to be his hometown. Married to Colleen Nevius. They have two children. He enjoys sailing, racquet sports, flying, reading. His father, Francis Readdy, resides in McLean. Her parents, William and Barbara Nevius, reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from McLean High School, McLean, Virginia, in 1970; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering (with honors) from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1974.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, American Astronautical Society, and Association of Space Explorers.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, three NASA Space Flight Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Expeditionary medal, two National Defense Service Medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and various unit and service awards. Distinguished graduate, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Instructor of the Year (1984).

EXPERIENCE:

Readdy graduated from Annapolis in 1974, and was designated a naval aviator in September 1975 at Beeville, Texas. Following training in the A-6 Intruder at VA-42 Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, he joined Attack Squadron 85 aboard the USS Forrestal deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean from 1976 until 1980. Upon completion of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Maryland, he served as project pilot on a variety of test programs while assigned to the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate. Following a short tour as an instructor pilot at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, he reported in 1984 to the USS Coral Sea, on Caribbean and Mediterranean deployments. In October 1986 Readdy accepted a Naval Reserve commission and joined NASA as a research pilot. He is affiliated with the U.S. Naval Reserve, and is assigned to the Naval Space Command.

He has logged over 6,500 flying hours in over 60 types of fixed wing and helicopters and over 550 carrier landings.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Readdy joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in October 1986 as an aerospace engineer and instructor pilot at Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, where he served as program manager for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Selected as an astronaut by NASA in the 1987 Group. His technical assignments to date include: Orbiter Subsystems, Orbiter Landing and Rollout; Orbiter Project Staff; SAIL; Training Officer; Safety Officer; Operations Development Branch Chief; and NASA Director of Operations, Star City, Russia. A veteran pilot astronaut with three space flights, STS-42 (January 22-30, 1992), STS-51 (September 12-22, 1993) and STS-79 (September 16-26, 1996), he has logged over 672 hours in space. STS-79 rendezvoused and docked with the Russian Space Station Mir, transferred over 3.5 tons of supplies to and from the Mir and exchanged U.S. astronauts on Mir for the first time - leaving John Blaha and bringing Shannon Lucid home after her record six months stay aboard Mir. Readdy is currently assigned to the Space Shuttle Program Office at the Johnson Space Center as Manager, Program Development. He remains on flight status and is eligible for future space shuttle mission command.

• 22 January 1992 Flight: STS-42. Flight Up: STS-42. Flight Back: STS-42. Flight Time: 8.05 days.

• 12 September 1993 Flight: STS-51. Flight Up: STS-51. Flight Back: STS-51. Flight Time: 9.84 days.

• 16 September 1996 Flight: STS-79. Flight Up: STS-79. Flight Back: STS-79. Flight Time: 10.14 days.

5 June 1987 - NASA Astronaut Training Group 12 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.. First selection after the Challenger accident. 1962 applicants, 117 finalists. Reported to Johnson Space Center on August 17, 1987, to begin their one year training. Seven pilots and eight mission specialists. Two female mission specialists, including the first black woman astronaut. Ten military officers and five civilians (including three from NASA Johnson and one from NASA Marshall).

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