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Adamson, James Craig 'Jim'

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Adamson Credit: www.spacefacts.de

Status: Inactive; Active 1984-1992. Born: 1946-03-03. Spaceflights: 2 . Total time in space: 13.93 days. Birth Place: Warsaw, New York.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:James C. Adamson (Colonel, U.S. Army, Ret.)
NASA Astronaut (former)

PERSONAL DATA: Born March 3, 1946, in Warsaw, New York. Currently resides in Woodbine Maryland with his wife Ellen and two of his three children. Adamson enjoys many outdoor sports: hunting, fishing, snow skiing, long distance running, and camping. He is an accomplished woodworker and a master machinist and gunsmith.

EDUCATION: Adamson completed his Bachelor of Science in Engineering and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army at West Point in 1969. In 1977 he completed a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. Additionally he has completed undergraduate and graduate pilot training, paratrooper training, arctic water and mountain survival training, Nuclear weapons training, basic and advanced officer training, Command and General Staff School, and the U. S. Navy Test Pilot School.

SPECIAL HONORS: He was a two time All American in pistol competition, winner of the Army's Excellency In Competition Award, and recipient of the George S. Patton award. Named an Outstanding College Athlete of America, Adamson captained West Point's pistol team to the national championship in 1969. He was distinguished graduate of his pilot training class as well as distinguished graduate of both his graduate fixed wing and multi-engine pilot training classes. During aerial combat in Southeast Asia he earned 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 18 air medals, and 3 Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry for valor. He also has earned his Nation's Defense Superior Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, The Army's Meritorious Service Medal, Two Army Commendation Medals, the Bronze Star, NASA's Exceptional Service Medal, 2 NASA Space Flight Medals, and is a world record holder for space flight lifting the most weight to orbit.

MILITARY EXPERIENCE: As a military test pilot, Adamson has flown research aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Princeton University, West Point, Patuxent Naval Air Station, and NASA Houston. He has logged over 3,000 hours of flight time in over 30 types of helicopters, piston props, turbo props, and turbo jet aircraft. During Vietnam, he flew in the IV Corps area and Cambodia with the Air Cavalry as Scout Pilot, Team Lead, and Air Mission Commander. He has also flown with several peacetime flight units at Fort Bliss, Texas, West Point, New York, and Houston, Texas. Following completion of his Masters Degree in Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University, he became Assistant Professor of Aerodynamics at the United States Military Academy at West Point. While at West Point, he developed and taught courses in Fluid Mechanics, Aerodynamics, Aircraft Performance, and Stability and Control. He also developed flight laboratories in aircraft flight testing and completed a text on aircraft performance. In addition to being an Experimental Test Pilot and Master Aviator, Adamson is also a Certified Professional Engineer and licensed Commercial Pilot. In ground assignments with the Army, Adamson has commanded nuclear capable missile units in Europe and in the United States.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Adamson was employed at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center from 1981 to 1992. During the Operational Flight Test phase of the Shuttle Program, he served as a research test pilot and aerodynamics officer in Mission Control. Following completion of the operational test flights he became Guidance Navigation and Control Officer for Shuttle Missions 5 through 11. As research test pilot he also conducted airborne remote sensing studies in Biospheric Research.

Selected by NASA as an Astronaut in 1984, Adamson became qualified for mission assignment on Space Shuttle flights. In November 1985, he was selected to the crew of a Department of Defense mission, which was subsequently delayed due to the Challenger Accident. During the Shuttle Program reconstruction period Adamson was one of eleven astronauts selected to hold management positions within NASA. He served as Shuttle Program Office Assistant Manager for Engineering Integration. In this position he was responsible for the initial development of a reliability based maintenance program for the Space Shuttle program. He also initiated an enhancements program for Shuttle ground processing.

In February 1988 Adamson was assigned to the flight crew of STS-28, the first flight of Columbia following the reconstruction period. Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 8, 1989. The mission carried a classified Department of Defense payload and a number of secondary payloads. After 80 earth orbits in 121 hours, this five day mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989.

Following STS-28 Adamson once again returned to management. This time he was assigned to the Kennedy Space Center as Director of Shuttle Processing Analysis. He served in this post from September 1989 until October 1990 when he was assigned to the flight crew of STS-43. During this period Adamson developed risk based processing and scheduling programs which resulted in reduction of processing times from 80 days to 50 days.

The nine day STS-43 mission aboard Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center on August 2, 1991 setting a new world record for payload weight lifted to orbit. The five member crew deployed a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E), and conducted 32 physical and life sciences experiments. During this flight Adamson performed the first flight test of the Orbital Digital Autopilot following Shuttle retrofit with new General Purpose Computers and new software. After 142 earth orbits in 213 hours, the STS-43 mission concluded with a landing on runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center on August 11, 1991.

Following Adamsons retirement from government service in June 1992 he continued as a management consultant to NASA and the aerospace industry. Until September of 1994 he served as management consultant and strategic planner for Lockheed Corporation in the area of Human Space Flight Operations. He was also selected by the NASA Administrator to serve on the NASA Advisory Council.

In September 1994 Adamson joined Lockheed Corporation as Executive Vice President of Lockheed Engineering and Science company (LESC) where he was shortly promoted to President and CEO. In late 1995 he was selected by Lockeed Martin to start up and become the first COO of the United Space Alliance (USA), a joint venture with Rockwell International Corp. USA subsequently won the Space Flight Operations Contract with NASA to operated the Space Shuttle Program and grew to $1.5 billion annual revenue in the first year.

In 1999 Adamson was recruited by Allied Signal Corporation to be the President of Allied Signal Technical Services Corporation. He remained in that post through Allied Signals merger with Honeywell until his retirement in March 2001.

Adamson is still active as a consultant and board member for the aerospace industry and still serves on the NASA Advisory Council for the NASA Administrator.

A veteran of two space flight missions, Adamson has logged over 334 hours in space.

PUBLICATIONS:

1. "Synthesis of BIS-2-(1,3-Diphenylimidazolidinylidene)", West Point, 1969
2. "A Helicopter Simulator Study of Control Display Tradeoffs in a Deceleration Approach", Article to the American Helicopter Society Journal, 1976.
3. Fundamentals of Applied Aerodynamics, Text rewrite, West Point, 1978.
4. Principles of Aircraft Performance, Text for USMA Dept. of Mechanics, 1979.
5. T41-B Aircrew Training Manual, West Point, 1979.
6. "The USMA Flight Laboratory Program", Paper to ASEE, 1980.
7. "A Simulator Study of Control and Display Tradeoffs in a Decelerating Approach", Adamson, Born, Dukes, MAE Tech. Rpt. No. 1428, Princeton NJ, 1976.
8. "A Helicopter Simulator Study of Control Display Tradeoffs in a Decelerating Approach", Masters Thesis, Princeton NJ, 1976.
9. "Dynamic Methods for Performance Flight Testing", Paper to the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School, Patuxent River MD, 1981.
10. "An Analysis of The Projected Manpower Requirements for the Shuttle Processing Contract", NASA Report JSC-22662, 1988.
11. NASA Response to the Presidential Commission on the Challenger Accident, contributing author, Houston, 1986.

OCTOBER 2002

This is the only version available from NASA. Updates must be sought direct from the above named individual.

NAME: James C. Adamson (Colonel, USA)

NASA Astronaut

BIRTHPLACE AND DATE: Born March 3, 1946, in Warsaw, New York, but makes his home in Monarch, Montana. His father, Mr. Herman Adamson, resides in Groveland, New York. His mother is deceased.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION: Brown hair; brown eyes; height: 5 feet 11 inches; weight: 160 pounds.

EDUCATION: Adamson completed his Bachelor of Science degree in engineering and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Army at West Point in 1969. In 1977 he completed a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at Princeton University. Additionally he has completed undergraduate and graduate pilot training, paratrooper training, basic and advanced officer training, Command and General Staff School, and the U.S. Navy Test Pilot School.

MARITAL STATUS: Married to the former Susan Broman of Warsaw, New York. Her parents, Walter and Hilda Broman, reside in North Palm Beach, Florida.

CHILDREN: Erik David, March 21, 1974.

RECREATIONAL INTERESTS: He enjoys hunting, fishing, snow skiing, wood working, and long distance running.

ORGANIZATIONS: Member of the West Point Association of Graduates, Princeton Alumni Association, Vietnam Helicopter Pilots Association, and Veterans of Foreign Wars.

SPECIAL HONORS: He was a two time All American in pistol competition and winner of the Army's Excellency in Competition Award. Named an Outstanding College Athlete of America, and was captain of the national championship team in 1969. Adamson was distinguished graduate of his class in undergraduate pilot training, and distinguished graduate of his class in graduate fixed-wing and multi-engine pilot training. During aerial combat in Southeast Asia he earned 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, as well as 18 Air Medals, and 3 Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry. He was also awarded the Bronze Star, the Meritorious Service Medal, 2 Army Commendation Medals, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Vietnamese Campaign Medal. Recipient of the NASA Space Flight Medal.

EXPERIENCE: As a military test pilot, Adamson has flown research aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, Princeton University, West Point, Patuxent Naval Air Station, and at NASA Houston. He has logged over 3,000 hours of flight time in over 30 types of helicopters, piston props, turbo props, and turbo jet aircraft. During Vietnam, he flew in the IV Corps area and Cambodia with the Air Cavalry as Scout Pilot, Team Lead, and Air Mission Commander. He has flown with several peacetime flight units at Fort Bliss, Texas, West Point, New York, and Houston, Texas. Following completion of his masters degree in aerospace engineering at Princeton University, he became Assistant Professor of Aerodynamics at the United States Military Academy at West Point. While at West Point, he developed and taught courses in Fluid Mechanics, Aerodynamics, Aircraft Performance, and Stability and Control. He also developed flight laboratories in aircraft flight testing and completed a text on aircraft performance. In addition to being an Experimental Test Pilot and Master Army Aviator, Adamson is also a Certified Professional Aerospace Engineer and licensed Commercial Pilot.

Adamson has also served in Army ground forces as a Nike Hercules Missile Battery Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Battery Commander in West Germany. At Fort Bliss, Texas, he served in a Hawk Missile Brigade as Battery Commander.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Adamson has been employed at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center since 1981. During the Operational Flight Test Phase of the Shuttle Program, he served as a research as a research test pilot and Aerodynamics Officer in Mission Control. Following completion of the four operational test flights, he became Guidance Navigation and Control Officer for STS missions 5 through 11. As a research pilot and test pilot for NASA's Aircraft Operations Division he conducted remote sensing studies in Biospheric Research.

Selected by NASA in May 1984, Adamson became qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. His initial technical assignment was verification of mission software in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). In November 1985, he was selected to the crew of a Department of Defense mission, which was subsequently canceled due to the Challenger accident. During the Shuttle program reconstruction/restoration period Adamson served in the NSTS Program Office as Assistant Manager for Engineering Integration.

In February 1988 he was assigned to the crew of STS-28. The Orbiter Columbia launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 8, 1989. The mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 80 orbits of the earth in 121 hours, this five day mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989.

Following STS-28 Adamson was assigned to the Kennedy Space Center as Director for STS Processing Operations. He served in this post from September 1989 to October 1990 when he was assigned to the flight crew of STS-43.

The nine-day mission aboard Atlantis launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 2, 1991. During the flight, crew members deployed the fifth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-E), in addition to conducting 32 physical, material, and life science experiments, mostly relating to the Extended Duration Orbiter and Space Station Freedom. After 142 orbits of the earth in 213 hours, the STS-43 mission concluded with a landing on Runway 15 at the Kennedy Space Center on August 11, 1991.

A veteran of two space flights Adamson flew on STS-28 in 1989 and STS-43 in 1991. With the completion of his second mission, Adamson has logged over 334 hours in space.

SEPTEMBER 1991

Photo Gallery

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STS-28 STS-28 MS Adamson inspects Columbia's, OV-102's, thermal protection system Credit: NASA

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• Birth of James Craig 'Jim' Adamson - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Adamson. American test pilot mission specialist astronaut 1984-1992. US Army 2 spaceflights, 13.9 days in space. Flew to orbit on STS-28 (1989), STS-43..

• NASA Astronaut Training Group 10 selected. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Adamson, Baker, Brown, Mark, Cameron, Carter, Casper, Culbertson, Gutierrez, Hammond, Ivins, Lee, Low, McCulley, Shepherd, Thornton, Veach, Wetherbee.

  The group was selected to provide pilot, engineer, and scientist astronauts for space shuttle flights.. Qualifications: Pilots: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics. Advanced degree desirable. At least 1,000 flight-hours of pilot-in-command time. Flight test experience desirable. Excellent health. Vision minimum 20/50 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20 vision; maximum sitting blood pressure 140/90. Height between 163 and 193 cm.

  Mission Specialists: Bachelor's degree in engineering, biological science, physical science or mathematics and minimum three years of related experience or an advanced degree. Vision minimum 20/150 uncorrected, correctable to 20/20. Maximum sitting blood pressure of 140/90. Height between 150 and 193 cm..

• STS-61-N (cancelled) - . Crew: Adamson, Brown, Mark, Casserino, Leestma, McCulley, Shaw. Backup Crew: Joseph. Payload: DoD Mission. Nation: USA. Program: STS. Flight: STS-61-N. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Discovery. Planned Department of Defense shuttle mission. Cancelled after Challenger disaster. .

• STS-28 - . Call Sign: Columbia. Crew: Adamson, Brown, Mark, Leestma, Richards, Shaw. Payload: Columbia F08 / DoD. Mass: 115,900 kg (255,500 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Adamson, Brown, Mark, Leestma, Richards, Shaw. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: STS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-28. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Columbia. Duration: 5.04 days. Decay Date: 1989-08-13 . USAF Sat Cat: 20164 . COSPAR: 1989-061A. Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Perigee: 289 km (179 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min.

  Manned five crew. Deployed 2 classified satellites. Landed at: Runway 17 dry lake bed at Edwards Air Force Base, . Landing Speed: 287 kph. Touchdown miss distance: 1,618.00 m. Landing Rollout: 1,833.00 m. Payloads: DoD Mission.

• Landing of STS-28 - . Return Crew: Adamson, Brown, Mark, Leestma, Richards, Shaw. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Adamson, Brown, Mark, Leestma, Richards, Shaw. Program: STS. Flight: STS-28. STS-28 landed at 13:43 GMT. .

• STS-43 - . Call Sign: Atlantis. Crew: Adamson, Baker, Mike, Blaha, Low, Lucid. Payload: Atlantis F09 / TDRS 5 [IUS]. Mass: 21,265 kg (46,881 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Adamson, Baker, Mike, Blaha, Low, Lucid. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: STS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-43. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Atlantis. Duration: 8.89 days. Decay Date: 1991-08-11 . USAF Sat Cat: 21638 . COSPAR: 1991-054A. Apogee: 306 km (190 mi). Perigee: 301 km (187 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min.

  Manned five crew. Deployed TDRS 5 satellite. Payloads: Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS)-E/lnertial Upper Stage (lUS), Space Station Heatpipe Advanced Radiator Element (SHARE)-ll, Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet (SSBUV) instrument 03, Optical Communications Through the Shuttle Window (OCTW), Air Force Maui Optical Site (AMOS) Calibration Test, Auroral Photography Experiment (APE)-B, Bioserve-lnstrumentation Technology Associates Materials Dispersion Apparatus (BlMDA)-02, Investigations Into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP)-03, Protein Crystal Growth Ill Block Il, Space Acceleration Measure-ment System (SAMS), Solid Surface Combustion Experiment (SSCE)-02, Tank Pressure Control Experiment (TPCE).

• Landing of STS-43 - . Return Crew: Adamson, Baker, Mike, Blaha, Low, Lucid. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Adamson, Baker, Mike, Blaha, Low, Lucid. Program: STS. Flight: STS-43. STS-43 landed at 12:28 GMT. .