Roy D. Bridges
| Roy D. Bridges | |
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| Country: | United States |
| Organization: | NASA |
| selected on | May 19, 1980 ( 9th NASA Group ) |
| Calls: | 1 space flight |
| Begin: | July 29, 1985 |
| Landing: | August 6, 1985 |
| Time in space: | 7d 22h 45min |
| retired on | March 1986 |
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Roy Dunbard Bridges, Jr. (born July 19, 1943 in Atlanta , Georgia ) is a former American astronaut and former director of the Kennedy Space Center and the Langley Research Center of NASA .
education
Bridges received a bachelor's degree in engineering from the United States Air Force Academy , Colorado Springs in 1965 and a master's degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University a year later . He also received an honorary degree in engineering from Purdue University in May 2001 .
In 1968 he flew 226 combat missions in the US Air Force during the Vietnam War . Then Bridges was used by the Air Force as a test pilot.
Astronaut activity
In May 1980, Bridges was selected for the ninth NASA group as an astronaut candidate after he had previously unsuccessfully applied for the eighth NASA group.
STS-51-F
Bridges flew into space in July 1985 as a pilot of the space shuttle Challenger on the STS-51-F mission . This flight, called Spacelab -2, was the first flight of the European space laboratory without a pressure module - the experiments (mainly in the disciplines of astronomy and astrophysics) had been installed on three pallets in the cargo hold of the Challenger. The crew worked in two shifts in order to achieve the maximum possible utilization of the experiments.
STS-61-F
STS-61-F was scheduled to launch the Ulysses solar probe on the Challenger space shuttle on May 15, 1986 . The team would have consisted of Frederick Hauck , Roy Bridges, John M. Lounge and David C. Hilmers (nomination in May 1985). The flight was canceled after the Challenger disaster.
Career with the US Air Force
Bridges is a former major general in the Air Force. From June 1993 until his end of service on July 1, 1996, he was Director of Procurement at Air Force Headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base . Prior to that, he was the commander of the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base , California . He was also in command of the Eastern Space and Missile Center at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida and the 412th Test Wing at Edwards Air Force Base.
Senior positions at NASA
On March 2, 1997, Bridges became director of the Kennedy Space Center (KSC). In this function he was responsible for the operation and launches of the space shuttle fleet, for their payloads and for the other NASA rocket launches from KSC. In addition, the final tests and the preparation of the modules of the International Space Station were his responsibility.
Bridges then moved to NASA's Langley Research Center as a director on August 10, 2003 . Here he was responsible for the center's research programs in the aerospace sector as well as for the facilities, the entire staff and administration. On October 3, 2005, he gave up this post and finally resigned from NASA at the end of 2005.
According to NASA
Currently Bridges is a manager at Northrop Grumman Technical Services .
Private
Roy Bridges and his wife Benita have two grown children.
See also
Web links
- Short biography of Roy D. Bridges at spacefacts.de
- NASA biography of Roy D. Bridges (English; PDF)
- Biography of Roy D. Bridges in the Encyclopedia Astronautica (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Bridges, Roy D. |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Bridges, Roy Dunbard; Bridges, Roy Dunbard Jr. |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American astronaut |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 19, 1943 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Atlanta , Georgia |