Readdy (original) (raw)

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Readdy, William Francis 'Bill'

American test pilot astronaut 1987-2005.

Status: Inactive; Active 1987-2005. Born: 1952-01-24. Spaceflights: 3 . Total time in space: 28.03 days. Birth Place: Quonset Point, Rhode Island.

Grew up in McLean, Virginia. Educated Annapolis; Patuxent. US Navy test pilot.

Official NASA Biography as of June 2016: William F. Readdy NASA Astronaut (Former)

PERSONAL DATA: Born January 24, 1952, in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, but considers McLean, Virginia, to be his hometown. Married to Colleen Nevius. They have two sons and a daughter. He enjoys sailing, racquet sports, flying, and reading.

EDUCATION: Graduated from McLean High School, McLean, Virginia, in 1970; bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering (with honors) from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1974. Distinguished graduate, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School 1980.

ORGANIZATIONS: Fellow, Society of Experimental Test Pilots. Member, Association of Space Explorers, International Academy of Astronautics, U.S. Naval Institute, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Naval Order of the United States. Board member, National Aeronautic Association.

SPECIAL HONORS: Recipient of the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, two NASA Distinguished Service Medals, three NASA Outstanding Leadership Medals, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, three NASA Space Flight Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Expeditionary medal, two National Defense Service Medals, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and various unit and service awards. U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Instructor of the Year (1984). NASA Space Flight Safety Award. Federation Aeronautique Internationale awards include: the Kamarov Diploma (STS-51), the De La Vaulx Medal (STS-79) and a World Record Certificate (STS-79).

EXPERIENCE: Readdy graduated from Annapolis in 1974, and earned his wings as a naval aviator. Following fleet training in the A-6 “Intruder” at NAS Oceana, Virginia, he joined Attack Squadron Eighty-five aboard the USS Forrestal deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean from 1976 until 1980. Upon completion of the Naval Test Pilot School, he served as project test pilot on a variety of programs at Strike Aircraft Test Directorate. Following a tour as a test pilot instructor, he reported in 1984 to the USS Coral Sea, on Caribbean and Mediterranean deployments. In 1986 Readdy transferred into the Naval Reserve to join NASA and served as an instructor pilot and unit commander until his naval retirement in August 2000. He has logged 7,000 flying hours in over 60 types of fixed wing and helicopters and over 550 carrier landings.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Readdy joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in October 1986 as a research pilot at Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, where he served as program manager for the highly-modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. He was selected as an astronaut in the 1987 Group. He served in numerous support roles including: Training Officer; Safety Officer; Operations Development Branch Chief; NASA Director of Operations, Star City, Russia; Stafford Task Force; and the first manager of Space Shuttle Program Development charged with upgrading the Space Shuttle. He served at NASA Headquarters as Associate Administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate with oversight for the Kennedy, Johnson, Marshall and Stennis Space Centers as well as programmatic oversight for International Space Station, Space Shuttle, Space Communications and Space Launch Vehicles. Readdy recently chaired the Space Flight Leadership Council charged with oversight of NASA’s successful Space Shuttle Return to Flight STS-114 mission. Readdy retired from NASA in October 2005 and formed Discovery Partners International, an aerospace consulting firm, located in Arlington, Virginia, where he serves as managing partner. (More information is available at http://www.discovery-partners.com).

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: Readdy is a veteran pilot astronaut with three space flights, STS-42 (January 22-30, 1992), STS-51 (September 12-22, 1993) and STS-79 (September 16-26, 1996). Readdy has logged over 672 hours in space.

JANUARY 2006

NASA Official Biography

NAME: William F. Readdy (Captain, U.S. Naval Reserve)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born January 24, 1952, in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, but considers McLean, Virginia, to be his hometown. Married to Colleen Nevius. They have two children. He enjoys sailing, racquet sports, flying, reading. His father, Francis Readdy, resides in McLean. Her parents, William and Barbara Nevius, reside in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from McLean High School, McLean, Virginia, in 1970; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering (with honors) from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1974.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, American Astronautical Society, and Association of Space Explorers.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, three NASA Space Flight Medals, the Meritorious Service Medal, the Navy Commendation Medal, Navy Achievement Medal, Navy Expeditionary medal, two National Defense Service Medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Armed Forces Reserve Medal, and various unit and service awards. Distinguished graduate, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. U.S. Naval Test Pilot School Instructor of the Year (1984).

EXPERIENCE:

Readdy graduated from Annapolis in 1974, and was designated a naval aviator in September 1975 at Beeville, Texas. Following training in the A-6 Intruder at VA-42 Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia, he joined Attack Squadron 85 aboard the USS Forrestal deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean from 1976 until 1980. Upon completion of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, Patuxent River, Maryland, he served as project pilot on a variety of test programs while assigned to the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate. Following a short tour as an instructor pilot at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, he reported in 1984 to the USS Coral Sea, on Caribbean and Mediterranean deployments. In October 1986 Readdy accepted a Naval Reserve commission and joined NASA as a research pilot. He is affiliated with the U.S. Naval Reserve, and is assigned to the Naval Space Command.

He has logged over 6,500 flying hours in over 60 types of fixed wing and helicopters and over 550 carrier landings.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Readdy joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in October 1986 as an aerospace engineer and instructor pilot at Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, where he served as program manager for the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. Selected as an astronaut by NASA in the 1987 Group. His technical assignments to date include: Orbiter Subsystems, Orbiter Landing and Rollout; Orbiter Project Staff; SAIL; Training Officer; Safety Officer; Operations Development Branch Chief; and NASA Director of Operations, Star City, Russia. A veteran pilot astronaut with three space flights, STS-42 (January 22-30, 1992), STS-51 (September 12-22, 1993) and STS-79 (September 16-26, 1996), he has logged over 672 hours in space. STS-79 rendezvoused and docked with the Russian Space Station Mir, transferred over 3.5 tons of supplies to and from the Mir and exchanged U.S. astronauts on Mir for the first time - leaving John Blaha and bringing Shannon Lucid home after her record six months stay aboard Mir. Readdy is currently assigned to the Space Shuttle Program Office at the Johnson Space Center as Manager, Program Development. He remains on flight status and is eligible for future space shuttle mission command.

JANUARY 1997

More at: Readdy.

Family: Astronaut. Country: USA. Spacecraft: Mir. Flights: STS-42, STS-51, STS-79, STS-79 Mir NASA-2. Projects: STS. Agency: USN. Bibliography: 12, 5921.

1952 January 24 - .

Birth of William Francis 'Bill' Readdy - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Readdy. American test pilot astronaut 1987-2005. 3 spaceflights, 28.0 days in space. Flew to orbit on STS-42 (1992), STS-51, STS-79..

1987 June 5 - .

NASA Astronaut Training Group 12 selected. - . Nation: USA. Related Persons: Akers, Allen, Andy, Bowersox, Brown, Chilton, Davis, Foale, Harbaugh, Jemison, McMonagle, Melnick, Readdy, Reightler, Runco, Voss.
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.. First selection after the Challenger accident. 1962 applicants, 117 finalists. Reported to Johnson Space Center on August 17, 1987, to begin their one year training. Seven pilots and eight mission specialists. Two female mission specialists, including the first black woman astronaut. Ten military officers and five civilians (including three from NASA Johnson and one from NASA Marshall).

1992 January 22 - . 14:52 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39A. Launch Platform: MLP3. LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

STS-42 - . Call Sign: Discovery. Crew: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Payload: Discovery F14 / GBA-3. Mass: 13,001 kg (28,662 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: STS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-42. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Discovery. Duration: 8.05 days. Decay Date: 1992-01-30 . USAF Sat Cat: 21846 . COSPAR: 1992-002A. Apogee: 307 km (190 mi). Perigee: 291 km (180 mi). Inclination: 57.00 deg. Period: 90.50 min.
Manned seven crew. Carried International Microgravity Laboratory-1. Payloads: International Microgravity Laboratory (lML)-1, getaway special (GAS) bridge with 10 getaway specials, IMAX camera, Gelation of Sols: Applied Microgravity Research (GOSAMR)-1, Investigations Into Polymer Mem-brane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equipment (RME)-lll, Student Experiment 81-09: Convection in Zero Gravity, Student Experiment 83-02: Capillary Rise of Liquid Through Granular Porous Media.

1992 January 30 - .

Landing of STS-42 - . Return Crew: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bondar, Grabe, Hilmers, Merbold, Oswald, Readdy, Thagard. Program: Spacelab. Flight: STS-42. STS-42 landed at 16:07 GMT. .

1993 September 12 - . 11:45 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39B. Launch Platform: MLP3. LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

STS-51 - . Call Sign: Discovery. Crew: Bursch, Culbertson, Newman, Readdy, Walz. Payload: Discovery F17 / ACTS [TOS-21H] / Orfeus-SPAS 01. Mass: 19,360 kg (42,680 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bursch, Culbertson, Newman, Readdy, Walz. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: STS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-51. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Discovery. Duration: 9.84 days. Decay Date: 1993-09-22 . USAF Sat Cat: 22795 . COSPAR: 1993-058A. Apogee: 308 km (191 mi). Perigee: 300 km (180 mi). Inclination: 28.50 deg. Period: 90.60 min.
Deployed and retrieved Orfeus-SPAS. During the EVA conducted tests in support of the Hubble Space Telescope first servicing mission and future EVAs, including Space Station assembly and maintenance. First night landing at KSC. Payloads: Advanced Communication Technology Sat-ellite (ACTS)/Transfer Orbit Stage (TOS), Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer�Shuttle Pallet Satellite (ORFEUS-SPAS) with Remote IMAX Camera System (RICS), Limited Duration Space Environ-ment Candidate Materials Exposure (LDCE) (Beam Configuration C), Commercial Protein Crystal Growth (CPCG Block II), Chromosome and Plant Cell Division in Space (CHROMEX), High Resolution Shuttle Glow Spectroscopy-A (HRSGS-A), Auroral Photography Experiment-B (APE-B), Investigation into Polymer Membrane Processing (IPMP), Radiation Monitoring Equip-ment (RME-III), Air Force Maui Optical Site Cal-ibration Test (AMOS), IMAX In-Cabin Camera.

1993 September 22 - .

Landing of STS-51 - . Return Crew: Bursch, Culbertson, Newman, Readdy, Walz. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bursch, Culbertson, Newman, Readdy, Walz. Program: STS. Flight: STS-51. STS-51 landed at 07:56 GMT. .

1996 September 16 - . 08:54 GMT - . Launch Site: Cape Canaveral. Launch Complex: Cape Canaveral LC39A. Launch Platform: MLP1. LV Family: Shuttle. Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle.

STS-79 - . Call Sign: Atlantis. Crew: Akers, Apt, Blaha, Readdy, Walz, Wilcutt. Payload: Atlantis F17 / External Airlock/ODS. Mass: 115,900 kg (255,500 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Akers, Apt, Blaha, Readdy, Walz, Wilcutt. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: Mir. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: Soyuz TM-24, STS-76 Mir NASA-1, STS-79, STS-79 Mir NASA-2. Spacecraft Bus: Shuttle. Spacecraft: Atlantis. Duration: 10.14 days. Decay Date: 1996-09-25 . USAF Sat Cat: 24324 . COSPAR: 1996-057A. Apogee: 386 km (239 mi). Perigee: 368 km (228 mi). Inclination: 51.70 deg. Period: 92.10 min.
On September 19 Atlantis docked with the Russian Mir space station. Aboard Atlantis in the payload bay were the Orbiter Docking System, the modified Long Tunnel, and the Spacehab Double Module, containing supplies for the Mir. Astronaut John Blaha relieved Shannon Lucid as NASA resident on the complex. Atlantis undocked from the Mir complex on September 23 at 23:33 GMT. Valeriy Korzun, Aleksandr Kaleri and John Blaha remain on Mir. On September 26 Atlantis closed its payload bay doors, and at 11:06 GMT fired its OMS engines for a three minute long deorbit burn. After entry interface at 11:42 GMT the spaceship flew across Canada and the US for a landing at the Kennedy Space Center's Runway 15 at 12:13 GMT.

1996 September 26 - .

Landing of STS-79 - . Return Crew: Akers, Apt, Lucid, Readdy, Walz, Wilcutt. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Akers, Apt, Lucid, Readdy, Walz, Wilcutt. Program: Mir. Flight: Soyuz TM-24, STS-76 Mir NASA-1, STS-79, STS-79 Mir NASA-2. STS-79 landed at 12:13 GMT with the crew of Lucid, Readdy, Wilcutt, Akers, Apt and Walz aboard..

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