Bruce Edward Melnick (born December 5, 1949) is a retired American astronaut and United States Coast Guard officer. Following retirement from NASA and the Coast Guard, he entered the aerospace industry. He served as a vice president with the Boeing Co.'s Integrated Defense Systems group, in charge of Boeing's Florida operations at the John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC). Melnick retired in 2008 and currently resides on Merritt Island, Florida.
Early life and education
Melnick was born December 5, 1949, in New York City, New York, but considers Clearwater, Florida, to be his hometown. He graduated from Clearwater High School, Clearwater, Florida, in 1967. He attended Georgia Institute of Technology for a year, and then went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree with honors in Engineering from the United States Coast Guard Academy in 1972, and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Systems from the University of West Florida in 1975. He was awarded an honorary Doctorate of Science degree from the University of West Florida on 28 April 2001.
Coast Guard career
Melnick spent 20 years in the United States Coast Guard, rising to the rank of commander. His assignments included serving as operations officer and chief test pilot at the Coast Guard Aircraft Program Office in Grand Prairie, Texas. In that capacity, he conducted most of the developmental and all of the acceptance test flights for the HH-65 Dolphin helicopter, including sea trials, and wrote the HH-65 flight manual.
During his Coast Guard service, Melnick received numerous awards, including two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, two Distinguished Flying Crosses and the Secretary of Transportation Heroism Award.
In 1992, he received the U.S. Coast Guard Academy Distinguished Alumni Award. He logged over 5,000 hours flying time, predominantly in the HH-3F Pelican, HH-52 Sea Guard, HH-65 Dolphin, and T-38 Talon aircraft. Melnick retired from the U.S. Coast Guard and left NASA in July 1992. Discovery launched from LC-39B, on October 6, 1990, at 11:47:15 UTC. The primary goal of the mission was to deploy the Ulysses spacecraft
The Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), combined with the Payload Assist Module (PAM-S), Additionally, STS-41 conducted experiments like the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Instrument (SSBUV), which studied Earth's upper atmosphere, investigations into polymer membrane production (IPMP), On May 7, 1992, 23:40:00 UTC, Endeavour launched from LC-39B on its maiden flight.
The primary mission objective involved a series of spacewalks aimed at capturing and repairing the stranded Intelsat VI satellite.