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394:(July 8, 1994 – July 23, 1994) set a new flight duration record for the Space Shuttle program. The mission flew the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2). During the 15-day flight the crew conducted more than 80 experiments focusing on materials and life sciences research in microgravity. The mission was accomplished in 236 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6.1 million miles in 353 hours and 55 minutes.
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Selected by NASA in
January 1990, Thomas became an astronaut in July 1991. Thomas was turned down in his application to the astronaut program twice. He decided to differentiate from the applicant competition by getting his pilot's license, teaching a university course and furthering his education. In
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by Tim
Rickard, which is anachronistically set in the present time. On July 4, the spaceship crew recalls that his 1995 mission was delayed due to a woodpecker attacking his Space Shuttle. The same woodpecker appears, pecking at the windows of the spaceship, at which time Thomas confesses that he
448:(July 1, 1997 – July 17, 1997), was a re-flight of the Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1) Spacelab mission, and focused on materials and combustion science research in microgravity. Mission duration was 376 hours and 45 minutes, traveling 6.3 million miles in 251 orbits of the Earth.
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his third application he made the group of 100 semi-finalists. After being invited to
Houston, going through a one-week medical exam and interviews, he was still turned down. He eventually moved over 1,500 miles to live in Houston and was finally accepted on his fourth application.
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In his last assignment, he served as the
International Space Station Program Scientist overseeing NASA experiments performed on the ISS. Thomas retired from NASA in July 2007 in order to pursue private interests.
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mission, was cut short because of problems with one of the
Shuttle's three fuel cell power generation units. Mission duration was 95 hours and 12 minutes, traveling 1.5 million miles in 63 orbits of the Earth.
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275:, working as a Senior Member of the Technical Staff. His responsibilities there included the development of advanced materials and processes for high-density interconnections of
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from the Space
Shuttle. Mission duration was 214 hours and 20 minutes, traveling 3.7 million miles in 142 orbits of the Earth. Four of the five astronauts were born in
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Thomas has served in the Safety, Operations
Development, and Payloads Branches of the Astronaut Office. He was CAPCOM (spacecraft communicator) for Shuttle missions
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crew, but his assignment was withdrawn over concern that he had already been exposed to too much radiation. Thomas logged over 1,040 hours in space.
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468:. He is a private pilot with over 250 hours in single engine land aircraft and gliders, and over 800 hours flying as mission specialist in NASA
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in
January 1990. This experiment investigated the effects of Orbiter and crew-induced disturbances on the growth of crystals in space.
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405:(July 13, 1995 – July 22, 1995). During the STS-70 mission, Thomas was responsible for the deployment of the sixth and final
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338:. From July 1999 to June 2000 he was Director of Operations for NASA at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in
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Thomas graduated with Honors from Case
Western Reserve University in 1977. Thomas is the recipient of four
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as a materials engineer. His work involved lifetime projections of advanced composite materials for use on
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In July 2014, Thomas, now a retired astronaut, was featured as a celebrity visitor to the spaceship
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432:(April 4, 1997 – April 8, 1997). The STS-83 Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1)
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an "Honorary Ohioan", making this flight "The All-Ohio Space
Shuttle Mission".
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devices. He was also an adjunct professor in the physics department at
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Following graduation from Cornell University in 1982, Thomas joined
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In 2013, Thomas wrote a book with the assistance of Mike Bartell, "
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Mission Specialist Donald Thomas works with Bioreactor samples on
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defects and sample purity on the superconducting properties of
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358:(July 1–17, 1997). Thomas was also assigned to the ISS
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Orbit of Discovery: The All-Ohio Space Shuttle Mission
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Orbit of Discovery: The All-Ohio Space Shuttle Mission
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Too far from home: a story of life and death in space
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674:"DONALD A. THOMAS (PH.D.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)"
592:"DONALD A. THOMAS (PH.D.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)"
154:
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1169:Cornell University College of Engineering alumni
697:Donald Thomas, Ohio astronaut, personal website
765:NASA Astronaut Group 13, "The Hairballs", 1990
1122:List of United States Marine Corps astronauts
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716:Earth from Space: Interactive Astronaut Panel
618:National Aeronautics and Space Administration
8:
1127:List of United States Space Force astronauts
291:and has authored several technical papers.
16:American astronaut and engineer (born 1955)
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296:Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company
1112:List of astronauts by year of selection
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1184:Case Western Reserve University alumni
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460:Academy of Mathematics and Science at
294:He left AT&T in 1987 to work for
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1199:Cleveland Heights High School alumni
247:in 1980 and 1982, respectively. His
565:(1 ed.). New York: Doubleday.
781:← NASA Astronaut Group 13 →
616:from websites or documents of the
479:," referencing the STS-70 flight.
251:involved evaluating the effect of
192:(born May 6, 1955) is an American
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407:Tracking and Data Relay Satellite
1194:Space Shuttle program astronauts
767:
612: This article incorporates
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516:NASA Distinguished Service Medal
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165:
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512:NASA Exceptional Service Medals
229:Case Western Reserve University
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75:Case Western Reserve University
692:Donald Thomas on Spacefacts.de
548:"Interview with Dr Don Thomas"
492:Association of Space Explorers
304:Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
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1117:Astronaut ranks and positions
648:. University Of Akron Press.
504:NASA Group Achievement Awards
213:Cleveland Heights High School
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456:Don Thomas is head of the
269:AT&T Bell Laboratories
1179:Towson University faculty
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644:Donald A. Thomas (2014).
183:
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1174:Engineers from Cleveland
508:NASA Space Flight Medals
263:Early life and education
783:NASA Astronaut Group 14
779:NASA Astronaut Group 12
370:Space flight experience
217:Cleveland Heights, Ohio
614:public domain material
383:
354:(April 4–8, 1997) and
219:, in 1973; received a
960:NASA Astronaut Groups
863:Bernard A. Harris Jr.
561:Jones, Chris (2007).
530:owes the bird money.
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308:Space Station Freedom
281:Trenton State College
273:Princeton, New Jersey
965:NASA Astronaut Corps
633:. ohioastronaut.com.
550:. Space Association.
350:(July 13–22, 1995),
127:NASA Group 13 (1990)
1164:American astronauts
878:William S. McArthur
853:Michael R. Clifford
836:Mission specialists
827:Terrence W. Wilcutt
822:Richard A. Searfoss
817:Charles J. Precourt
724:Jean-Jacques Favier
525:in the comic strip
413:, so Ohio Governor
346:(July 8–23, 1994),
221:Bachelor of Science
807:William G. Gregory
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245:Cornell University
190:Donald Alan Thomas
84:Cornell University
42:Donald Alan Thomas
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679:. NASA. July 2007
597:. NASA. July 2007
572:978-0-385-51465-1
498:Awards and honors
462:Towson University
458:Willard Hackerman
340:Star City, Moscow
241:Materials Science
233:Master of Science
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898:Donald A. Thomas
843:Daniel W. Bursch
812:James D. Halsell
797:Kenneth Cockrell
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728:Thomas Marshburn
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452:Post-NASA career
415:George Voinovich
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873:Thomas D. Jones
858:Nancy J. Currie
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287:. He holds two
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908:Carl E. Walz
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681:. Retrieved
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599:. Retrieved
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360:Expedition 6
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249:dissertation
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100:Space career
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1154:1955 births
888:Ellen Ochoa
868:Susan Helms
848:Leroy Chiao
488:Tau Beta Pi
318:NASA career
253:crystalline
52:May 6, 1955
1148:Categories
918:David Wolf
534:References
514:, and the
285:New Jersey
223:degree in
118:43d 8h 13m
48:1955-05-06
402:Discovery
237:Doctorate
207:Education
201:astronaut
123:Selection
71:Education
59:Cleveland
683:June 18,
631:"STS-70"
601:June 18,
445:Columbia
434:Spacelab
429:Columbia
391:Columbia
194:engineer
133:Missions
1105:Related
706:Twitter
506:, four
494:(ASE).
289:patents
257:niobium
225:Physics
974:Groups
790:Pilots
652:
569:
510:, two
441:STS-94
425:STS-83
398:STS-70
387:STS-65
380:STS-70
356:STS-94
352:STS-83
348:STS-70
344:STS-65
328:STS-47
312:STS-32
149:STS-94
145:STS-83
141:STS-70
137:STS-65
677:(PDF)
595:(PDF)
243:from
227:from
65:,U.S.
685:2021
650:ISBN
603:2021
567:ISBN
470:T-38
411:Ohio
334:and
198:NASA
63:Ohio
38:Born
704:on
464:in
298:in
283:in
271:in
239:in
92:PhD
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
