John M. Fabian
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| John McCreary Fabian | |
|---|---|
| Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Born | January 28, 1939 Goosecreek, Texas |
| Other occupation | Pilot |
| Rank | Colonel, USAF |
| Space time | 13d 04h 02m |
| Selection | 1978 NASA Group |
| Missions | STS-7, STS-51-G |
| Mission insignia |
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John McCreary Fabian (born January 28, 1939, in Goosecreek, Texas) is a former NASA Astronaut who flew two space shuttle missions.
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[edit] NASA experience
Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, and became an astronaut in August 1979. During the following years, he worked extensively on satellite deployment and retrieval activities, including development of the Canadian Remote Manipulator System. A veteran of two space flights, he has logged over 316 hours in space. He served as a mission specialist on STS-7 (June 18-June 24, 1983) and STS-51G (June 17 - June 24, 1985). He was scheduled to fly next in May 1986 on STS-61G. This flight was one of several deferred by NASA in the wake of the Challenger accident . He was also in training for space shuttle life science mission SLS-1. Fabian left NASA on January 1, 1986 to become Director of Space, Deputy Chief of Staff, Plans and Operations, Headquarters USAF.
Colonel Fabian retired from the USAF in June 1987 and joined Analytic Services Inc (ANSER), a non-profit aerospace public service research institute in Arlington, Virginia, where he retired as President and Chief Executive Officer in 1998. He currently lives in Port Ludlow, Washington. Fabian continues to serve as an independent consultant and public speaker on the NASA space program and environmental stewardship.
[edit] Space flight experience
Fabian first flew as a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 18, 1983. This was the second flight for the Orbiter Challenger and for the first mission with a 5-person crew. During the mission, the crew deployed satellites for Canada (ANIK C-2) and Indonesia (PALAPA B-1); operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to perform the first deployment and retrieval exercise with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01); conducted the first formation flying of the Orbiter with a free-flying satellite (SPAS-01); carried and operated the first U.S./German cooperative materials science payload (OSTA-2): and operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis System (CFES) and the Monodisperse Latex Reactor (MLR) experiments, in addition to activating seven Getaway Specials, Mission duration was 147 hours before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1983.
Fabian was the first person to deploy and subsequently retrieve a free-flying satellite. In doing so, he used the Canadian-built robotic arm to release and later recapture the SPAS-01 satellite.
On his second mission, Fabian flew on STS-51-G which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 17, 1985, and landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on June 24, 1985, after completing approximately 170 hours of space flight. This international crew deployed communications satellites for Mexico (Morelos), the Arab League (Arabsat), and the United Stated (AT&T Telstar). They used the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and later retrieve the SPARTAN satellite which performed 17 hours of x-ray astronomy experiments while separated from the Space Shuttle. In addition, the crew activated the Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF), six Getaway Specials, participated in biomedical experiments, and conducted a laser tracking experiment as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative.
[edit] Military experience
Fabian, an Air Force ROTC student at Washington State University, was commissioned upon graduation in 1962. After an assignment at the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, he was assigned as an aeronautics engineer in the service engineering division, San Antonio Air Material Area, Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. He then attended flight training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and subsequently spent 5 years as a KC-135 co-pilot, aircraft commander, and instructor pilot at Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan. He saw action in Southeast Asia, flying 90 combat missions. Following additional graduate work at the University of Washington, he served 4 years on the faculty of the Aeronautics Department at the USAF Academy in Colorado where he was a tenured associate professor. He has logged 4,000 hours flying time, including 3,400 hours in jet aircraft.
[edit] Personal data
Born January 28, 1939, in Goosecreek, Texas, but considers Pullman, Washington, to be his hometown. He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank, Life Scout. Recreational interests include politics and environmental advocacy.
In 1998 he retired to Port Ludlow, Washington, bordered by Hood Canal and the Olympic Mountains on northwest Washington's Olympic Peninsula. In 2002 he helped form the Hood Canal Coalition, an environmental watchdog group opposing a gravel mine's shipping operation slated to transverse the Hood Canal Bridge.[1]
[edit] Education
Graduated from Pullman High School, Pullman, Washington, in 1957; received a bachelor of science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Washington State University in 1962; a master of science in Aerospace Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1964; and a doctorate in Aeronautics and Astronautics from the University of Washington in 1974. While at Washington State University he was a member of the Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity. Member of Tau Beta Pi and Sigma Tau engineering honor societies.
[edit] Associations
Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics; Fellow, American Astronautical Society; President, Association of Space Explorers - USA; Member, International Academy of Astronautics; Vice President, International Astronautical Federation; Founder of Hood Canal Coalition, a neighborhood group opposed to a proposed industrial port facility on the pristine shoreline of Hood Canal; Washington State University Board of Regents 2004 - 2005. Currently serving in his 4th term as International Co-President of the Association of Space Explorers. Trustee, Washington State University Foundation. Trustee, Phi Sigma Kappa Foundation. Served with the Presidential Commission Investigating the Space Shuttle Challenger Accident and the Presidential Commission on Design of the International Space Station. Member of NASA Advisory Committees on the Joint US-Russian Space Shuttle - MIR Program and the International Space Station.
[edit] Honors
Air Force Astronaut Wings; NASA Space Flight Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster; NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal; Federation Aeronautique Internationale - Komarov Diploma; Defense Superior Service Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Meritorious Service Medal; French Legion of Honor, Saudi Arabian King Abdul Aziz Medal; Air Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters; Air Force Commendation Medal; Washington State University Sloan Engineering Award (1961); Air Training Command Academic Training Award (1966); Squadron Officer School Commandant's Trophy (1968); Squadron Officer School Chief of Staff Award (1968); Washington State University Distinguished Alumnus Award (1983); University of Washington Distinguished Alumnus Award, Aeronautics and Astronautics, (1984); Washington State Service to Humanity Award (1983); Distinguished Alumnus Award (1985); Medallion of Merit (1987); Phi Sigma Kappa.
[edit] References
- ^ Seattle Post-Intelligencer (2004). Seeing Earth from on high made ex-astronaut want to save it. Retrieved on May 31, 2008.
