Donald R. McMonagle
| Donald McMonagle | |
|---|---|
|
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| Country: | United States |
| Organization: | NASA |
| selected on | June 5, 1987 ( 12th NASA Group ) |
| Calls: | 3 space flights |
| Start of the first space flight: |
April 28, 1991 |
| Landing of the last space flight: |
November 14, 1994 |
| Time in space: | 25d 5h 34min |
| retired on | July 1997 |
| Space flights | |
Donald Ray McMonagle (born May 14, 1952 in Flint , Michigan , USA ) is a retired American astronaut .
McMonagle received a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1974 and a master's degree in mechanical engineering from California State University, Fresno in 1985 . In 2003 he received a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Michigan Ross School of Business.
In 1975 McMonagle received his pilot's license with the United States Air Force . In 1976 he was stationed at Kunsan Air Base in South Korea for one year. In 1979 he worked as a pilot instructor at Luke Air Force Base in Arizona. In 1981 he completed his training as a test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base and was then employed as a test pilot until 1986.
Astronaut activity
After an unsuccessful application for the eleventh group of astronauts, McMonagle was selected by NASA in June 1987 as an astronaut candidate with the twelfth group of NASA and trained as a pilot. In January 1996 he was entrusted with setting up a project office for spacecraft operations . In August 1997, he became the manager of Launch Integration at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In this role he was responsible for the preparations for the launch of the space shuttles, the execution of the take-offs and the return of the space shuttles if they landed at a location other than KSC. He was the head of the mission management team and as such made the final decision about the launch of the space shuttles.
STS-39
Although McMonagle had completed his astronaut training as a shuttle pilot, he received his first flight assignment as a mission specialist. On April 28, 1991, he took off into space on the space shuttle Discovery . STS-39 was the Department of Defense's first non-secret shuttle mission. Only the MPEC experiment was classified as secret on this mission. Furthermore, the southern polar lights were examined, various experiments were carried out and several small satellites were exposed.
STS-54
On January 13, 1993, McMonagle took off as a pilot on the space shuttle Endeavor for the STS-54 mission . The main objectives of this mission were the deployment of the $ 200 million Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F) and experiments in X-ray astronomy with the Diffuse X-ray Spectrometer (DXS).
STS-66
On November 3, 1994, McMonagle started as commander of the space shuttle Atlantis for the ATLAS-3 mission (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science). During this Spacelab mission, seven experiments that had already done their work on the previous ATLAS missions examined the solar energy output and the chemical balance of the earth's atmosphere. During the flight, the German carrier SPAS was suspended for several days, which was also on the road with its two devices on behalf of ATLAS. One of these experiments also came from Germany - CRISTA (CRyogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere).
According to NASA
In June 2006 he moved to Raytheon in Tucson, Arizona.
Private
Donald McMonagle is married and has two children.
See also
Web links
- Short biography of Donald R. McMonagle at spacefacts.de
- NASA biography of Donald R. McMonagle (English; PDF)
- Biography of Donald R. McMonagle in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | McMonagle, Donald R. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | McMonagle, Donald Ray (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronaut |
| DATE OF BIRTH | May 14, 1952 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Flint , Michigan , United States |