Condition as seen.  Husband and Wife Team on same cover.

 "Margaret Rhea Seddon (born November 8, 1947) is a physician and retired NASA astronaut. After being selected as part of the first group of astronauts to include women, she flew on three Space Shuttle flights: as mission specialist for STS-51-D and STS-40, and as payload commander for STS-58. Both before and after her career in the astronaut program, she has been active in the medical community in Tennessee, Mississippi and Texas.

Early life and education

Seddon was born in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, where she attended St Rose of Lima Catholic School and graduated from Central High School in 1965. She received a bachelor of arts degree in physiology from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1970, and a doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee College of Medicine in 1973. While at the University of California, Seddon was a member of Sigma Kappa sorority.[1]

After medical school, Seddon completed a surgical internship and 3 years of a general surgery residency in Memphis with a particular interest in nutrition in surgery patients. Between the period of her internship and residency, she served as an Emergency Department physician at a number of hospitals in Mississippi and Tennessee, and served in this capacity in the Houston area in her spare time. Seddon has also performed clinical research into the effects of radiation therapy on nutrition in cancer patients.

NASA experience

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, Seddon became an astronaut in August 1979. Her work at NASA was in a variety of areas, including Orbiter and payload software, Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, Flight Data File, Shuttle medical kit and checklist, launch and landing rescue helicopter physician, support crew member for STS-6, crew equipment, membership on NASA's Aerospace Medical Advisory Committee, Technical Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations, and Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center.[2][3]

She was Assistant to the Director of Flight Crew Operations for Shuttle/Mir Payloads. A three-flight veteran with over 722 hours in space, Seddon was a mission specialist on STS-51D (1985) and STS-40 (1991), and was the payload commander on STS-58 (1993). In September 1996, she was detailed by NASA to Vanderbilt University Medical School in Nashville, Tennessee. She assisted in the preparation of cardiovascular experiments which flew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on the Neurolab Spacelab flight in April 1998. Seddon retired from NASA in November 1997. She is now the assistant Chief Medical Officer of the Vanderbilt Medical Group in Nashville, Tennessee.

Space flights

Portrait from 1978

STS-51-D ( Discovery), April 12–19, 1985, was launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The crew deployed ANIK-C for Telesat of Canada, and Syncom IV-3 for the U.S. Navy. A malfunction in the Syncom spacecraft resulted in the first unscheduled EVA (spacewalk), rendezvous and proximity operations for the Space Shuttle in an attempt to activate the satellite using the Remote Manipulator System. The crew conducted several medical experiments, activated two "Getaway Specials," and filmed experiments with toys in space. In completing her first space flight Seddon logged 168 hours in space in 109 Earth orbits. It was on this mission that Seddon took the badge of her sorority Sigma Kappa into space.[4]

STS-40 ( Columbia) Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-1), June 5–14, 1991, a dedicated space and life sciences mission was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California. During the nine-day mission the crew performed experiments which explored how humans, animals and cells respond to microgravity and re-adapt to Earth's gravity on return. Other payloads included experiments designed to investigate materials science, plant biology and cosmic radiation, and tests of hardware proposed for the Space Station Freedom Health Maintenance Facility. Mission completed in 146 orbits of the Earth, and logged her an additional 218 hours in space.

STS-58 ( Columbia), Spacelab Life Sciences-2 (SLS-2), flew October 18 to November 1, 1993. Seddon was the Payload Commander on this life science research mission which received NASA management recognition as the most successful and efficient Spacelab flown to date. During the fourteen-day flight the seven-person crew performed neurovestibular, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and musculoskeletal medical experiments on themselves and 48 rats, expanding our knowledge of human and animal physiology both on earth and in space flight. In addition, the crew performed 10 engineering tests aboard the Orbiter Columbia and 9 Extended Duration Orbiter Medical Project experiments. The mission was accomplished in 225 orbits of the Earth in over 336 hours.  Personal life  She is married to former astronaut Robert L. Gibson of Cooperstown, New York, with whom she has three children.  Awards and honors  In 2015, Seddon was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.[5][6]

"Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson (born October 30, 1946), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, aeronautical engineer, and a retired NASA astronaut, as well as a professional pilot who currently races regularly at the annual Reno Air Races.

Contents

1 Personal

2 Education

3 Military career

4 NASA career

5 Post-NASA career

6 Awards and honors

7 References

8 External links

Personal

Born October 30, 1946, in Cooperstown, New York, but considers the Lakewood area of east Long Beach, California, to be his hometown. On May 30, 1981, he married fellow astronaut, Dr. M. Rhea Seddon of Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and has four children. He enjoys home-built aircraft, Formula One Air Racing, Unlimited Class Air Racing, running and surfing during his free time.

Education

Gibson graduated from Huntington High School, Huntington, New York as a part of the class of 1964, and went on to earn an Associate degree in Engineering Science from Suffolk County Community College in 1966. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1969.

Military career

Gibson entered active duty with the U.S. Navy in 1969. He was commissioned through the Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS), and proceed to flight training.[1] He received basic and primary flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Station Saufley Field, Florida, and Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi. He completed advanced flight training at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas and was assigned to Fighter Squadron 121 (VF-121) at Naval Air Station Miramar, California for replacement training in the F-4 Phantom II.

While assigned to Fighter Squadron 111 (VF-111) and Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) from April 1972 to September 1975, he saw duty aboard the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea and USS Enterprise, flying combat missions in Southeast Asia in the F-4 with VF-111 and making the initial operational carrier deployment of the F-14 Tomcat with VF-1. He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as "TOPGUN."

Gibson returned to the United States and an assignment as an F-14A instructor pilot with Fighter Squadron 124 (VF-124) at Naval Air Station Miramar. He graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland in June 1977 and later became involved in the test and evaluation of improvements to the F-14A aircraft while assigned to the Naval Air Test Center's Strike Aircraft Test Directorate.

Selected as a NASA astronaut, he continued to be promoted, eventually achieving the rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy and the rank at which he retired from active naval service.

Charles F. Bolden, his copilot on STS-61-C, described Gibson and John Young as the two best pilots he had met "in my life in aviation, over thirty-five years; never met two people like them. Everyone else gets into an airplane; John and Hoot wear their airplane. They're just awesome".[2]

Gibson's flight experience included over 6,000 flying hours (14,000 hours in total) in over 140 types of civil and military aircraft.[3] He holds an airline transport pilot license. In 2006 he was required to stop flying for the airlines because he reached his 60th birthday. He still holds a multi-engine and instrument rating. He has held a private pilot rating since age 17. Gibson has also completed over 300 carrier landings.

NASA career

Selected by NASA in January 1978, Gibson became an astronaut in August 1979. Gibson flew five missions: STS-41-B in 1984, STS-61-C in 1986, STS-27 in 1988, STS-47 in 1992, and STS-71 in 1995. Gibson served as Chief of the Astronaut Office (December 1992 to September 1994) and as Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations (March–November 1996).

On his first space flight Gibson was the pilot on the crew of STS 41-B which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 3, 1984. The flight accomplished the deployment of two Hughes 376 communications satellites which later failed to reach desired geosynchronous orbits due to upper-stage rocket failures. The STS 41-B mission marked the first checkout of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), and Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR), with Bruce McCandless II and Bob Stewart performing two EVAs (space walks). The German Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS), Remote Manipulator System (RMS), six "Getaway Specials", and materials processing experiments were included on the mission. The eight-day orbital flight of Challenger culminated in the first-ever landing at the Kennedy Space Center on February 11, 1984.

Gibson was the commander of the STS-61-C mission, and the first of only four people under the age of 40 to command a STS Orbiter. The seven-man crew on board the Orbiter Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on January 12, 1986. During the six-day flight the crew deployed the SATCOM Ku satellite and conducted experiments in astrophysics and materials processing. The mission concluded with a successful night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 18, 1986.

Gibson subsequently participated in the investigation of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, and also participated in the redesign and recertification of the solid rocket boosters.

The famous photo showing McCandless using the MMU. It was Gibson who took the photo and later remarked imagining about the caption being "NASA Photo by Hooter" STS-41-B in 1984

As the commander of STS-27, Gibson and his five-man crew launched from the Kennedy Space Center on December 2, 1988, aboard the Orbiter Atlantis. The mission carried a Department of Defense payload, and a number of secondary payloads. After 68 orbits of the Earth the mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base on December 6, 1988.

On Gibson's fourth space flight, the fiftieth Space Shuttle mission, he served as commander of STS-47, Spacelab-J, which launched on September 12, 1992 aboard the Orbiter Endeavour. The mission was a cooperative venture between the United States and Japan, and included the first Japanese astronaut and the first African-American woman, Mae Jemison, in the crew. During the eight-day flight, the crew focused on life science and materials processing experiments in over forty investigations in the Spacelab laboratory, as well as scientific and engineering tests performed aboard the Orbiter Endeavour. The mission ended with a successful landing on the runway at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on September 20, 1992.

On his last flight, (June 27 to July 7, 1995), Gibson commanded a crew of seven-members (up) and eight-members (down) on 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 Spacelab module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections.

In five space flights, Gibson completed a total of 36.5 days in space.

Post-NASA career

Gibson left NASA in November 1996 and became a pilot for Southwest Airlines. In 2006, as reported by NASA Watch, Gibson was forced to retire as mandated by the Federal Aviation Administration for commercial airline pilots. Gibson has publicly spoken out against federal regulations which require airline pilots to retire at age 60.[4] In December 2006, he joined the Benson Space Company as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Test Pilot.[5] Gibson has flown 111 different aircraft types,[6] and has become a regular competitor at the annual Reno Air Races.[6] In 1998, Gibson flying the Hawker Sea Fury "Riff-Raff" won the Unlimited Class in the Inaugural Running of the EAA AirVenture Cup Race.[7]

In October 2007, Gibson was a contestant on Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. During his appearance, he became the first contestant to make it to the million-dollar question without using any of his cheats. He incorrectly answered the $1,000,000 question ("How many factors do 32 and 28 share?"). The correct answer is three; 1, 2, and 4. He answered with two (2 and 4). All of his prize money ($25,000) went to the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation.

Hawker Sea Fury aka September Fury race 232

Beginning in 2009, Gibson flew as a demonstration pilot for Hawker Beechcraft Corporation to showcase the Premier 1A light business jet across the United States and overseas.

In 2010, The Academy of Model Aeronautics, the United States' national aeromodeling organization, named Gibson a spokesperson and Ambassador to promote the hobby of radio controlled model flight and to encourage an interest in aviation amongst young people. Gibson has stated that his interest in manned flight and his career as a test pilot and astronaut has its origin in his building of model aircraft as a youth. Gibson remains an avid radio controlled model hobbyist and is reportedly constructing a flyable version of the experimental vertical take off and landing Convair XFY-1 Pogo of the 1950s.

In September 2013, Gibson qualified the Hawker Sea Fury known as "September Fury" in race #232 at the 50th National Championship Air Races at a speed of 479.164 mph. This is the fastest Sea Fury qualifying time.[8]

In September 2015, Gibson qualified the P51-D, known as "Strega" at the 52nd National Championship Air Races at a speed of 475.043. With a little bit of luck and some epic flying, Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson took the checkered flag in the Gold Unlimited Race finishing at 488.983 mph average speed. He was crowned the Unlimited Gold Champion for 2015.[9]

Awards and honors

Awarded the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) "Louis Blériot Medal" (1991 and 2004)[10]

Awarded the "Yuri A. Gagarin Gold Medal" by the FAI[10]

Awarded the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) "Freedom of Flight" Award (1989)

U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame (2003)

National Aviation Hall of Fame (2012) [11]

Established FAI world records for "Altitude in Horizontal Flight," Airplane Class C1A in 1991,[12] "Time to Climb to 9000 Meters" in 1994 and "Speed over a closed course" in 2004.[13]

Awarded the William F. Shea award for contribution to aviation from the University of Nebraska-Omaha Aviation Institute (2012)[14]

U.S. Space Camp Hall of Fame (2012)

Military awards include the:

Defense Superior Service Medal

Distinguished Flying Cross

Air Medal (3)

Navy Commendation Medal with Combat "V"

Navy Unit Commendation

Meritorious Unit Commendation

National Defense Service Medal (2)

Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal

Humanitarian Service Medal

Vietnam Service Medal

Vietnam Campaign Medal