Date: Mon, 12 Aug 1996 14:11:45 -0400
From: NASANews@luna.osf.hq.nasa.gov (NASA HQ Public Affairs Office)
To: press-release-com@venus.hq.nasa.gov
Subject: International Candidates Join 1996 Astronaut Class
Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, DC August 12, 1996
(Phone: 202/358-1778)
Eileen Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 713/483-5111)
RELEASE: 96-162
INTERNATIONAL CANDIDATES JOIN 1996 ASTRONAUT CLASS
A cadre of international astronaut candidates has
arrived at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, to begin
training as members of the 1996 Astronaut Class.
The international candidates, representing the Canadian,
Japanese, Italian, French, German and European Space
Agencies, will train as mission specialists for future Space
Shuttle and International Space Station flight assignments.
"The Class of 1996 continues our international
cooperation in space as we move forward into the era of the
International Space Station," said Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson,
deputy director of Flight Crew Operations. "We welcome the
entire class. They have a very exciting time ahead of them."
The international candidates are: Steve MacLean and
Julie Payette, Canadian Space Agency; Pedro Duque and
Christer Fuglesang, European Space Agency; Mamoru Mohri and
Soichi Noguchi of the Japanese Space Agency, NASDA; Philippe
Perrin of the French Space Agency, CNES; Gerhard Thiele of
the German Space Agency, DARA; and Umberto Guidoni of the
Italian Space Agency, ASI. Brief biographical information on
the international candidates follows.
For complete biographical information on the astronaut
corps, see the NASA Internet biography home page at URL:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
BIOGRAPHICAL DATA
CANADIAN SPACE AGENCY
NAME: Steve MacLean
BIRTHPLACE/DATE: December 14, 1954 - Ottawa, Ontario
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Science, Honours Physics, 1977 and
Doctorate in Physics, 1983 -- York University, Toronto,
Ontario.
CURRENT POSITION: Acting Director-General, Canadian
Astronaut Program. Selected in December 1983 as an astronaut
for the Canadian Space Agency. Flew as a Payload Specialist
on Shuttle mission STS-52 in October - November 1992.
NAME: Julie Payette
BIRTHPLACE/DATE: October 20, 1963 - Montreal, Quebec
EDUCATION: Bachelor of Engineering, McGill University, 1986;
Masters of Applied Science, University of Toronto, 1990.
International Baccalaureate, United World International
College of the Atlantic, South Wales, UK, 1982.
CURRENT POSITION: Selected in June 1992 as an astronaut for
the Canadian Space Agency. Currently she is the Project
Manager of human-computer interaction research for the
Canadian astronaut program.
EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY
NAME: Pedro Duque
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: March 14, 1963 - Madrid, Spain
EDUCATION: Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros
Aeronauticos, Universidad Politecnica, Madrid 1986
CURRENT POSITION: Selected in May 1992 to join the Astronaut
Corps, European Space Agency. Duque has trained in Star
City, Russia as a backup crew member for ESA's Euromir 94
mission and served as primary Crew Interface Coordinator for
that mission. He was the Alternate Payload Specialist for
Shuttle mission STS-78 in June-July, 1996.
NAME: Christer Fuglesang, European Space Agency
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: March 18, 1957 - Stockholm, Sweden
EDUCATION: Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Masters of
Science degree in Engineering Physics, 1981, University of
Stockholm; Doctorate in Experimental Particle Physics, 1987;
and Docent in Particle Physics, 1991.
CURRENT POSITION: Selected in May 1992 to join the
Astronaut Corps, European Space Agency. Fuglesang has
trained in Star City, Russia as a backup crew member for
ESA's Euromir 95 mission and served as primary Crew Interface
Coordinator for that mission.
NASDA
NAME: Mamoru Mohri
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: January 28, 1948 - Hokkaido, Japan
EDUCATION: Master of Science, Physical Science, Hokkaido
University, 1972; Doctorate in Physical Science rom South
Australia State Flinders University, 1976.
CURRENT POSITION: Chief, Astronaut Office. Mohri flew
previously as a Payload Specialist on Shuttle Mission STS-47
in September 1992.
NAME: Soichi Noguchi
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: April 15, 1965 - Yokohama, Japan
EDUCATION: Master of Aeronautical Engineering, 1991 and
Bachelor of Aeronautical Engineering, 1989, University of
Tokyo, Japan.
CURRENT POSITION: Engineer, Aerodynamics Group,
Ishikawajima-Harima Heavy Industries, Co., Ltd.
CNES
NAME: Philippe Perrin, Lt. Colonel, French Air Force
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: January 6, 1963, Meknes, Morocco
EDUCATION: Degree as Ingenieur Polytechnicien from the Ecole
Polytechnique, Palaiseau, France, 1985.
CURRENT POSITION: Chief Pilot of the Bretigny Test Centre,
in charge of the development and evaluation of the Mirage
2000-5 aircraft for the French Air Force. Selected as an
astronaut candidate for CNES in 1990.
DARA
NAME: Gerhard P. J. Thiele
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: September 2, 1953, Heidenhelm/Brenz, Germany
EDUCATION: Studied physics at Ludwig-Maximilians
Universitat, Munich and Ruprecht-Karls-Universitat in
Heidelberg, 1976-1982. Doctoral thesis at the Institute for
Environmental Physics of Heidelberg Universitat, 1982-1985.
CURRENT POSITION: Astronaut, DARA.
ASI
NAME: Umberto Guidoni
BIRTHDATE/PLACE: August 18, 1954, Rome, Italy
EDUCATION: Ph.D in Astrophysics, Bachelor of Science in
Physics, University of Rome, 1978.
CURRENT POSITION: Astronaut, Italian Space Agency. Guidoni
previously flew as a Payload Specialist on Shuttle Mission
STS-75, Tethered Satellite, in February 1996.
-end-
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