Michael L. Gernhardt

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Michael Gernhardt
Michael Gernhardt
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on March 31, 1992
( 14th NASA Group )
Calls: 4 space flights
Start of the
first space flight: 		September 7, 1995
Landing of the
last space flight: 		July 25, 2001
Time in space: 43d 07h 01min
EVA inserts: 4th
EVA total duration: 23h 16min
Space flights

Michael Landon Gernhardt (born May 4, 1956 in Mansfield , Ohio ) is an American astronaut .

Gernhardt received a bachelor's degree in physics from Vanderbilt University in 1978 and a master's degree in 1983 and a doctorate in biotechnology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1991 .

Gernhardt was a professional deep sea diver and project engineer for deep sea drilling rigs and other underwater projects from 1977 to 1984. From 1984 to 1992 he worked first on the development of underwater robots and other technology for divers, later he developed techniques for space travel.

Astronaut activity

In March 1992, Gernhardt was selected by NASA as a candidate for astronauts. After his training as a mission specialist, he was involved in the development of new procedures for space exits (EVAs). He was also a member of the shuttle launches support team at the Kennedy Space Center and liaison officer ( CAPCOM ) at the control center in Houston . He now works for the Prebreath Reduction Program, a program to optimize EVAs, and is the manager of the Environmental Physiology Laboratory at the Johnson Space Center .

Already twice, in October 2001 and April 2005, Gernhardt completed a short stay in the Aquarius underwater laboratory. These two excursions took place as part of the NEEMO program. The US space agency has been carrying out these "NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations" for years. NASA signed a cooperation agreement with the American weather service NOAA , which owns the laboratory off the coast of Florida . The Aquarius is an 80-ton steel structure that has been anchored to the seabed at a depth of 18 meters six kilometers off the coast of Key Largo since 1987 . The spatial conditions correspond roughly to those of the Zvezda module of the ISS.

STS-69

Michael Gernhardt during his first outboard activity

On September 7, 1995, Gernhardt started as a mission specialist on the space shuttle Endeavor on his first flight into space . The crew successfully deployed a SPARTAN satellite and the Wake Shield Facility and then recaptured them. Also on board was the "International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker" payload and numerous other payloads and medical experiments. Gernhardt conducted an extravehicular activity that lasted 6 hours and 46 minutes, testing modifications to spacesuits as well as methods and tools intended for the construction of the International Space Station (ISS).

STS-83

On April 4, 1997, Gernhardt took off into space on the Columbia space shuttle . The payload was the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1). Due to a problem with one of the shuttle's fuel cells , the mission had to be shortened and the landing took place after just under four days. NASA decided to repeat the mission three months later with the same crew.

STS-94

On July 1, 1997, Columbia started again on the MSL-1 mission, which was prematurely terminated on the first attempt. This time the experiments in the Microgravity Science Laboratory could be carried out successfully. This included, above all, experiments to research the physical properties of supercooled liquid mixtures and the combustion processes on solid and liquid materials as well as the production of pure protein crystals .

STS-104

Michael Gernhardt at the ISS robotic arm during an extravaganza during the STS-104 mission

Gernhardt and James Reilly were the first members of the STS-104 crew to be nominated back in 1997. The space shuttle Atlantis took off on July 12, 2001 and transported the airlock Quest to the International Space Station (ISS). Gernhardt and Reilly took three exits to install Quest.

STS-119

Gerhardt was nominated on December 12, 2002 for the STS-119 mission with the space shuttle Endeavor, after the Columbia disaster (February 1, 2003) the crew was disbanded on February 22, 2003 and the mission was postponed a long time. New astronauts were not named until October 2007, but he was no longer considered. In October 2008, this flight brought the last section of the Integrated Truss Structure , a grid module with solar panels, to the international space station.

NEEMO-1

In the period from October 21 to 27, 2001 he was with Michael López-Alegría , Bill Todd (United Space Alliance) and David Williams (CSA) on the first underwater mission NEEMO-1 .

PR image

From April 20 to 22, 2005 he was Commander with John Olivas , Scott Joseph Kelly and Monika Schultz in the NEEMO-8 underwater mission .

NEEMO-8

Gernhardt drove the prototype of the lunar vehicle in the parade for the inauguration of US President Barack Obama on January 20, 2009.

NEEMO-15

In the period from October 20 to 26, 2011 he was with Richard Robert Arnold and Stanley Glen Love in the moon & asteroid landing simulation of the underwater mission NEEMO-15 .

NEEMO-16

From October 20 to 26, 2012 he was with Stanley Glen Love , Serena Auñón , Steve Giddings, Bill Todd, Andrew Abercromby and Steve Chappell in the lunar and asteroid landing simulation of the underwater mission NEEMO-16 .

See also

Web links

Commons : Michael L. Gernhardt  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
personal data
SURNAME Gernhardt, Michael L.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Gernhardt, Michael Landon
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American astronaut
DATE OF BIRTH May 4th 1956
PLACE OF BIRTH Mansfield , Ohio