Rick Husband

Richard "Rick" Douglas Husband (July 12, 1957 – February 1, 2003) was a United States Air Force (USAF) colonel and NASA astronaut. He went into space twice: as the pilot of STS-96 and the commander of STS-107. He and the rest of the crew of STS-107 were killed when Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere. Husband was posthumously awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

Biography

He was born in Amarillo, Texas in 1957 and was a Colonel in the United States Air Force and Commander of the STS-107 mission of Columbia. Husband died in the Columbia tragedy on February 1, 2003 over the southern United States 16 minutes before landing, leaving behind a wife and two children.

Education

Rick Husband graduated from Amarillo High School in 1975. In 1980 he received a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University and in 1990 a Master of Science in mechanical engineering from California State University, Fresno.

Organizations

Member of the Experimental Test Pilot Society, Tau Beta Pi, Air Force Association, and the Texas Tech University Alumni Association.

Special Honors

Distinguished graduate of AFROTC, Undergraduate Pilot Training, Squadron Officer School, and Air Force Test Pilot School; Distinguished Student Award in Engineering, Texas Tech University (1980); Pilot of the Year and F-4 Air Tactical Commander Instructor (1987); in 1997 he was named a Distinguished Engineer from the College of Engineering, Texas Tech University. Military decorations include the Service Merit Medal with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Achievement Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, two NASA achievement awards for service on the X-38 Development Team and the Orbiter Definition and Improvement Team.

On August 22, 2005 the Rover Spirit as part of its exploration reached the top of a hill, which has been named Husband Hill in his honor.

Likewise, the lunar crater Borman L has been called Husband since 2006 in the PanglossTech Glossary.

Experience

After graduating from Texas Tech University in 1980, Husband was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Air Force and attended pilot training at Vancé Air Force Base (BFA) in Oklahoma. He graduated in October 1981 and was assigned to F-14 training at the BFA in Homestead, Florida. After finishing F-14 training in September 1982, Husband was posted to the BFA in Moody, Georgia flying the F-4E. From September through November 1985, he attended the F-4 Instructor School at the BFA in Homestead and was assigned as an F-4E Pilot Instructor and Academic Instructor at the BFA in George, California in December 1985. 1987 Husband went to the BFA in Edwards, California where he attended Air Force Test Pilot School. Upon completion of Test Pilot School, Husband served as a test pilot flying the F-4 and all five F-15 models. in the F-15 Combined Force Test, Husband was the program manager for the enhanced performance of the Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229, and also served as the F-15 Air Demonstration Pilot. In June 1992, he was assigned to the Aircraft and Armaments Establishment and Evaluation at Boscombe Down, England, as an exchange test pilot with the Royal Air Force. At Boscombe Down he was a Project Tornado GR1 and GR2 Pilot and served as a test pilot for Hawk, Hunter, Buccaneer, Jet Provost, Tucano, and Harvard. Rick Husband logged more than 3,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft.

NASA experience

In December 1994, NASA selected Husband as an astronaut candidate, and in March 1995 he reported to the Johnson Space Center to begin a year of training and examinations. Upon completion of training, he was appointed representative of the Astronaut Office for Advanced Projects at the Johnson Space Center, working on Space Shuttle Improvements, the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) and studies to return to the Moon and travel to Mars. He also served as Chief of Security for the Astronaut Office. In 1999 Husband had the opportunity to fly into space on the STS-96 mission and was the crew commander for the STS-107 mission. Husband logged a total of 24 days, 51 hours, and 33 minutes in space.

Space flight experience

• STS-96 Mission Discovery (27 May - 6 June 1999). It was a 10-day mission in which the crew first joined the International Space Station and delivered 4 tons of equipment and supplies in preparation for the arrival of the first crew to inhabit the Station the following year. The mission was completed in 153 orbits around the Earth, traveling about 6.4 million kilometres in 9 days, 19 hours and 13 minutes.
• Mission STS-107 Columbia (16 January – 1 February 2003). This 16-day mission was dedicated to scientific research to which he was assigned 24 hours a day in two alternate shifts. The crew carried out and successfully carried out nearly 80 experiments. The mission ended in tragedy when the Space Shuttle Columbia was uninformed during the re-entry on the south-west sky of the United States when only 16 minutes were left for landing. The cause of this tragedy originated on the day of the launch when a piece of insulating foam of the External Tank was detached and damaged the lower part of the left wing of the Orbitator by removing some thermal protection tiles. On the day of the re-entry the absence of some of these cans caused the re-heating of the internal structure by allowing the entry of plasma to very high temperature within the left wing of Columbia, which caused the destabilization and subsequent disintegration of the ship by killing its 7 crew members.

Font

• http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/husband.html