SEARFOSS ON XCOR BOARD ASTRONAUT TAUGHT EDWARDS TEST PILOTS.Byline: Daily News MOJAVE - Former NASA astronaut Richard A. Searfoss Richard Alan Searfoss (born June 5, 1956), is a retired United States Air Force colonel, NASA Astronaut and test pilot. Biography Searfoss was born on June 5, 1956, in Mount Clemens, Michigan, but considers Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to be his hometown. has joined XCOR Aerospace Inc.'s board of directors. ``As an experienced test pilot and as someone who has been to space three times, he provides an exceptional perspective to our effort,'' XCOR President Jeff Greason said in an announcement. Searfoss graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1978 with a degree in aeronautical engineering and holds a master of science degree in aeronautics from the California Institute of Technology California Institute of Technology, at Pasadena, Calif.; originally for men, became coeducational in 1970; founded 1891 as Throop Polytechnic Institute; called Throop College of Technology, 1913–20. . He was an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base, U.S. military installation, 301,000 acres (121,805 hectares), S Calif., NE of Lancaster; est. 1933. It is one of the largest air force bases in the United States and has the world's longest runway. when he was selected for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), civilian agency of the U.S. federal government with the mission of conducting research and developing operational programs in the areas of space exploration, artificial satellites (see satellite, artificial), astronaut program. Searfoss piloted two space shuttle missions <onlyinclude> This is a list of missions flown by space shuttles. As of 2006, only the United States has flown human spaceflight shuttle missions, in the Space Shuttle program, while the Soviet Union flew one unmanned flight of the Buran. and was the mission commander on his third space flight. In 1996, during his second mission, he piloted Atlantis to the Russian space station Mir. His third mission was the last and most complex of the 25 Spacelab missions. Searfoss has logged 939 hours in space and more than 5,400 hours flying time in 61 different types of aircraft. XCOR Aerospace is a California corporation in the business of producing reusable rocket engines and rocket-powered vehicles. It plans to build a suborbital spacecraft. |
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