Rominger Credit: www.spacefacts.de |
Status: Inactive; Active 1992-2006. Born: 1956-08-07. Spaceflights: 5 . Total time in space: 67.12 days. Birth Place: Del Norte, Colorado.
Educated Colorado State; USNPGS; Patuxent.
Official NASA Biography as of June 2016:Kent V. Rominger (Captain, USN, REt.)
NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)
PERSONAL DATA: Born August 7, 1956, in Del Norte, Colorado. Married to the former Mary Sue Rule. They have one child. He enjoys snow skiing, water skiing, horseback riding, and running. His parents, Mr. & Mrs. R. Vernon Rominger, reside in Del Norte, Colorado. Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Delbert Rule, of Durango, Colorado, are deceased.
EDUCATION: Graduated from Del Norte High School, Del Norte, Colorado, in 1974; received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 1978; a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1987.
ORGANIZATIONS: Association of Space Explorers, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Association of Naval Aviation, and Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Society.
SPECIAL HONORS: Defense Superior Service Medal. Distinguished Flying Cross. Defense Meritorious Service Medal. NASA Distinguished Service Medal. Colorado Aviation Hall of Fame Inductee (2000). Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. Naval Air Test Center Test Pilot of the Year (1988). Society of Experimental Test Pilots Ray E. Tenhoff Award (1990) and Jack Northrop Award (1996). Colorado State University Distinguished Service Award (1997). West Coast Tomcat Fighter Pilot of the Year (1992). Top Ten Carrier Landing Distinction in Airwings Two and Nine.
EXPERIENCE: Rominger received his commission through the Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate (AVROC) Program in 1979, and was designated a Naval Aviator in September 1980. Following training in the F-14 Tomcat, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron Two (VF-2) from October 1981 to January 1985 aboard the USS Ranger and USS Kitty Hawk. While assigned to VF-2 Rominger attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Topgun). In 1987 he completed the Naval Postgraduate School/Test Pilot School Cooperative Program, and was assigned as F-14 Project Officer to the Carrier Suitability Branch of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate at Patuxent River, Maryland. During his tour of duty Rominger completed the initial carrier suitability sea trials of the F-14B, logging the first aircraft carrier arrestment and catapult launch in the upgraded Tomcat. In September 1990 he reported to Fighter Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VF-211) where he served as Operations Officer and completed a Desert Storm Deployment to the Arabian Gulf aboard USS Nimitz.
He has logged over 7,000 flying hours in over 35 types of aircraft and 685 carrier landings.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in March 1992, Rominger reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and is qualified for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Rominger was initially assigned to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. He also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch, Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations, and Chief of the Astronaut Corps. .A veteran of five space flights, Rominger logged over 1,600 hours in space. He flew as pilot on STS-73 (1995), STS-80 (1996) and STS-85 (1997), and was the crew commander on STS-96 (1999) and STS-100 (2001). In April 2005 he retired from the Navy. Rominger retired from NASA in September 2006 to accept a position with ATK Launch Systems, Utah.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-73 Columbia (October 20 to November 5, 1995) was the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission. The mission focused on materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, the physics of fluids, and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized Spacelab module. In completing his first space flight, Rominger orbited the earth 256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total of 15 days, 21 hours, and 52 minutes in space.
STS-80 Columbia (November 19 to December 7, 1996) was a 17-day mission during which the crew deployed and retrieved the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) and the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ORFEUS) satellites. The free-flying WSF created a super vacuum in its wake and grew thin film wafers for use in semiconductors and other high-tech electrical components. The ORFEUS instruments, mounted on the reusable Shuttle Pallet Satellite, studied the origin and makeup of stars. In completing his second space flight, Rominger orbited the earth a record 278 times, traveled over 7 million miles and logged 17 days, 15 hours and 53 minutes in space.
STS-85 Discovery (August 7-19, 1997) was a 12-day mission during which the crew deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS satellite, operated the Japanese Manipulator Flight Demonstration (MFD) robotic arm, studied changes in the Earths atmosphere and tested technology destined for use on the future International Space Station. The mission was accomplished in 189 Earth orbits, traveling 4.7 million miles in 11 days, 20 hours and 27 minutes.
STS-96 Discovery (May 27 to June 6, 1999) was a 10-day mission during which the crew delivered 4 tons of logistics and supplies to the International Space Station in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to live on the station. The mission included the first docking of a Space Shuttle to the International Space Station and was accomplished in 153 Earth orbits, traveling 4 million miles in 9 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes.
STS-100 Endeavour (April 19 to May 1, 2001) was a 12-day mission during which the crew installed the Canadian-built Robotic Arm and the Rafaello Logistics Module to the International Space Station. Endeavour was docked 8-days on the most complex robotics flight in the history of the Space Shuttle program and was made up of a very diverse international crew, representing the United States, Russia, Canada and Italy. The mission was completed in 187 Earth orbits, traveling 4.9 million miles in 11 days, 21 hours and 30 minutes.
OCTOBER 2006
He has logged over 4,500 flying hours in over 35 types of aircraft and 685 carrier landings.
From October 20 to November 5, 1995, Rominger served as pilot aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-73, the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission. The mission focused on materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, the physics of fluids, and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized Spacelab module. In completing his first space flight, Rominger orbited the earth 256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total of 15 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes and 21 seconds in space.
From November 19 to December 7, 1996, Rominger served as pilot aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-80. During the flight, the crew deployed and retrieved the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) and the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ORFEUS) satellites. The free-flying WSF created a super vacuum in its wake and grew thin film wafers for use in semiconductors and other high-tech electrical components. The ORFEUS instruments, mounted on the reusable Shuttle Pallet Satellite, studied the origin and makeup of stars. In completing his second spaceflight, Rominger orbited the earth a record 278 times, traveled over 7 million miles and logged 17 days, 15 hours and 53 minutes in space.
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.. Four pilots and 15 mission specialists, nine civilians and ten military. Chosen from 2054 applicants, 87 of which screened in December 1991/January 1992. Five additional international astronauts.
Mission STS-80 carried the Orfeus astronomy satellite, the Wake Shield Facility, and spacewalk equipment. The Orfeus satellite was deployed on November 20. It carried an ultraviolet telescope and spectrographs. Wake Shield Facility was deployed on November 22 and retrieved on November 26 . On 1996 Nov 29, crewmembers Tamara Jernigan and Thomas Jones were to conduct the first of several planned EVAs. However the shuttle's exit hatch would not open and NASA cancelled this and the other planned spacewalks of the mission. On December 4 at the astronauts retrieved the Orfeus satellite using the RMS arm. Reentry attempts on Dec 5 and Dec 6 were called off due to bad weather. Columbia finally landed at 11:49 GMT December 7 on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center, making STS-80 the longest shuttle mission to that date .
Deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS-2 (the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2) designed to study Earth's middle atmosphere. The CRISTA-SPAS-2 was making its second flight on the Space Shuttle and represented the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA.
CRISTA-SPAS was deployed by the RMS arm at 22:27 GMT on August 7 and was recaptured by Discovery's RMS arm at 15:14 GMT on August 16. Because of unfavorable weather conditions at the primary shuttle landing site at the Kennedy Space Center, Discovery was waved off for its scheduled August 18 landing. STS-85 landed the next day, at Kennedy Space Center at 11:08 GMT.
Discovery and its multi-national crew of seven astronauts blasted off this morning from the Kennedy Space Center, lighting up the early morning skies as they sped to orbit on the first shuttle mission of the year for the first shuttle docking to the International Space Station. Additional Details: here....
The crew of STS-96 was awakened just before 7 p.m. by the Beach Boys' version of "California Dreamin," played for Mission Specialist Tammy Jernigan. Once awake, Discovery's seven-member crew began preparing for its first full day on orbit to ready the vehicle for tomorrow night's docking with the International Space Station and a spacewalk the night after. Additional Details: here....
Discovery docked at the PMA-2 end of the International Space Station PMA-2/Unity/PMA-1/Zarya stack. The crew transferred equipment from the Spacehab Logistics Double Module in the payload bay to the interior of the station. Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry made a space walk to transfer equipment from the payload bay to the exterior of the station. The ODS/EAL docking/airlock truss carried two TSA (Tool Stowage Assembly) packets with space walk tools. The Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), built by Energia and DASA-Bremen, carried parts of the Strela crane and the US OTD crane as well as the SHOSS box which contains three bags of tools and equipment to be stored on ISS's exterior.
The STS-96 payload bay manifest:
On May 30 at 02:56 GMT Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry entered the payload bay of Discovery from the tunnel adapter hatch, and made a 7 hr 55 min space walk, transferring equipment to the exterior of the station.
On May 31 at 01:15 GMT the hatch to Unity was opened and the crew began several days of cargo transfers to the station. Battery units and communications equipment were replaced and sound insulation was added to Zarya. Discovery undocked from ISS at 22:39 GMT on June 3 into a 385 x 399 km x 51.6 degree orbit, leaving the station without a crew aboard. On June 5 the Starshine satellite was ejected from the payload bay. The payload bay doors were closed at around 02:15 GMT on June 6 and the deorbit burn was at 04:54 GMT. Discovery landed on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 06:02 GMT.
With the Shuttle trailing the station by less than 500 nautical miles and moving closer every orbit, Commander Kent Rominger twice fired Discovery's steering jets to fine tune the Shuttle's approach to the new station. The engine firings were the first in a series that will culminate in a docking with the station planned for 11:24 p.m. Central time today. Down on Discovery's middeck, Flight Engineer Ellen Ochoa and Canadian astronaut Julie Payette opened the tunnel and hatches leading to the Spacehab module in the payload bay. Spacehab is loaded with equipment, clothes and food to be stored aboard the new orbital outpost. Later, Payette and Russian cosmonaut Valery Tokarev temporarily stowed some equipment in the module to free up room in Discovery's cabin. Additional Details: here....
At wake-up, the Shuttle trailed the station by about 120 nautical miles and was closing in by about 41 nautical miles with each orbit of Earth. The final phase of rendezvous will begin when Discovery reaches a point about eight nautical miles directly behind the station and fires its engines in a terminal phase initiation burn at 8:35 p.m. Central. The TI burn, as it is called, will put the Shuttle on a course directly toward the station during the next orbit of Earth. Additional Details: here....
Having completed the first space shuttle docking with the International Space Station late last night, Discovery's astronauts will go to sleep at 8:50 a.m. Central time to rest up for a space walk late tonight to install a pair of cranes and other gear to the exterior of the orbital complex. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's astronauts executed the first-ever docking with the International Space Station late Friday night, easing the shuttle to a textbook linkup with the new orbital facility at 11:24pm Central time as the two craft flew over the Russian-Kazakh border. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's crew headed for its sleep period this morning, reporting significant progress in the transfer of equipment and supplies to the International Space Station after finishing up the planned refurbishment of a battery system in one of the station's modules. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's astronauts will finish their work inside the International Space Station tonight and are scheduled to have all the hatches closed by about 4 a.m. Thursday. Shortly thereafter, the shuttle's small thrusters will be fired to raise the entire complex's orbit in preparation for the undocking and departure set for late tomorrow afternoon. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's crew was awakened this afternoon to begin readying its spaceship for the return trip home early Sunday morning. But before that, the crew has one last mission objective to complete: The deploy of a small educational satellite at 2:21 a.m. Saturday. Additional Details: here....
Discovery's astronauts will remain in space another day after rains near Edwards Air Force Base prevented landing on either of two opportunities at the California site. Discovery had two landing opportunities at Kennedy Space Center, but high winds there made landing weather unacceptable. Additional Details: here....
The International Space Station has become home to its new residents - the Expedition Two crew of Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms - who are settling in for a four-month stay after assuming command of the complex 10 days ago. Additional Details: here....
Space Shuttle OV-105 Endeavour was launched on mission STS-100 to carry out International Space Station Flight 6A continued the outfitting of the Station. The crew of four Americans, one Russian, one Canadian and one Italian were to install an 18 meter, 1,700 kg Canadian robotic arm named Canadarm-2 on the ISS, and to transport an Italian cargo container, Raffaello, which delivered 4,500 kg of supplies and equipment to the station. Total payload of 13,744 kg consisted of:
On 23 April the SSRMS station manipulator was unberthed from the SLP Spacelab pallet at 1114 GMT and latched on to the PDGF fixture on the Destiny ISS module at 1416 GMT. This was followed at 1458 GMT with the MPLM-2 Raffaello module being moved from Endeavour's payload bay by the Shuttle's RMS and berthed to the nadir port on the ISS Unity module at 1600 GMT. Over the next few days, the cargo racks on the MPLM were transferred to Destiny. Raffaello was then unberthed from Unity at 2003 GMT on April 27 and reberthed in the rear of Endeavour's bay for return to earth at 2059 GMT.
Undocking of Endeavour was delayed by a series of computer problems at the Station. Failures in the Station's command and control computers left only one of the three computers operating.
They were all restarted by April 29, and the Shuttle RMS grappled the Spacelab pallet at 2044 GMT . The station's Canadarm-2 released it at 2106 GMT, and the RMS berthed the pallet back in the Shuttle cargo bay. Endeavour undocked from the Station at 1734 GMT on April 29. The weather in Florida was bad at the planned May 1 landing time, so Endeavour landed in California. The deorbit burn was at 1502 GMT on May 1, with landing at 1610:42 GMT on runway 22 at Edwards. Endeavour returned to the Kennedy Space Center atop a Boeing 747 SCA aircraft on May 9.
The crew of the shuttle Endeavour worked this morning to prepare for its Saturday docking with the International Space Station and for the two planned spacewalks while there. The chase to catch up with the waiting station and its Expedition Two crew continues with another in the series of rendezvous maneuvers scheduled for about 5:30 this morning. Additional Details: here....
Space Shuttle Endeavour and its seven crewmembers began rendezvous preparations shortly after 3 a.m. today, which should culminate in an 8:32 a.m. docking to the International Space Station, which will be northeast of Hong Kong at an altitude of 240 miles. The shuttle is bringing an advanced robotic arm, experiments and supplies to the ever-growing science outpost. Additional Details: here....
With Commander Kent Rominger at the controls, Endeavour gently docked with the International Space Station this morning as the two spacecraft flew 243 miles over the southern Pacific Ocean, just southeast of New Zealand. Docking occurred at 8:59 a.m. central time. Additional Details: here....
Endeavour's two space walkers -- Canadian Chris Hadfield and American Scott Parazynski-- worked as space-age electricians today, completing connections that allowed the new International Space Station robotic arm to operate from a new base on the outside of the Destiny science lab. Additional Details: here....
Weather permitting, Endeavour and its crew of seven will return to the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow morning, concluding a successful mission to install a new-generation robotic arm on the International Space Station, and a journey of more than 4.8 million miles. In preparation for tomorrow's landing opportunities, Commander Kent Rominger, Pilot Jeff Ashby and Flight Engineer John Phillips verified the performance of Endeavour's flight control systems and surfaces and steering jets. Additional Details: here....
A replacement Soyuz spacecraft successfully docked to the International Space Station early Monday, providing the station crew with a new "lifeboat" should an unexpected return to Earth become necessary. The docking occurred at 2:58 a.m. as the station orbited over south-central Russia near the Mongolian border. Additional Details: here....
With the Kennedy Space Center reporting cloud cover, showers and gusty winds and with forecasters calling for more of the same today and tomorrow, flight controllers began focusing on bringing Endeavour home to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base later today. Additional Details: here....
Endeavour and its crew of seven glided to a landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California today, touching down at 11:11 a.m. central time, concluding a successful mission to install a new-generation robotic arm on the International Space Station, and a journey of more than 4.9 million miles. Additional Details: here....