Mario Runco Jr. is a former United States Naval officer and NASA astronaut. He was selected as an astronaut with in 1987. He flew three Space Shuttle missions, performed a spacewalk on his second mission, and is now retired both from NASA and the U.S. Navy.
Early life and education
Mario Runco, Jr. was born on January 26, 1952, in The Bronx, New York,
STS-54
thumb|left|Runco carried by fellow astronaut Gregory Harbaugh during their EVA on the STS-54 mission
Even before launching for his first mission, Runco was assigned as a Mission Specialist (MS1) to his second flight, STS-54, which would fly on the Space Shuttle ENDEAVOUR (OV-105). STS-54 launched from KSC’s launch pad 39B launch pad 39B on January 13, 1993, and landed at the Shuttle Landing Facility (SLF) runway 33 at KSC in Florida on January 19, 1993, completing 96 orbits of the Earth. The six-day mission’s primary objective was accomplished with his deployment of a NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-F) on flight day 1. Also carried in the payload bay was the Diffuse X-Ray Spectrometer (DXS). This astronomical instrument for studying stellar evolution scanned the local vicinity of our Milky Way galaxy and recorded the low-energy X-ray emanations believed to originate from the plasma remnants of an ancient supernova. Crewmate Greg Harbaugh (EV1) and Runco (EV2) also became the 47th and 48th Americans to walk in space during a 4.5-hour spacewalk designed to evaluate the limits of human performance during extravehicular activities (EVA) in anticipation of the construction of the ISS. Included in these EVA evaluations was the first and only attempt thus far at ingressing a personal foot restraint (PFR) without the use of handholds, which Runco accomplished successfully and is still the only person to have done so. Of Runco, his spacewalking crew mate commented, “Mario was the most naturally skilled EVA guy I ever saw. He moved with ease and was able to accomplish everything he was challenged to do. He ingressed the Personal Foot Restraint (PFR) without handholds, a task ground controllers were taking bets on as to whether it could be accomplished or not, look like he’d done it his whole life, and even did it a second time when disbelieving ground controllers asked him to do it again, which he did. Early in the EVA, he even caught a small tool case when it came loose after my tether hook failed to close (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it) as we were transferring the tool items we needed to take with us from the payload bay’s EVA tool box or Personnel Support Assembly (PSA) to our portable mini-work stations. Mario had large strong hands, which are a huge asset for EVA, and he was a hockey player so he had tremendous endurance. I find it curious that he never got a chance to display his skills on HST or ISS.” Lastly, in what was called the "Physics of Toys In Space", which has since become a popular children's educational video, the crew also demonstrated how everyday toys behave in space to an interactive audience of elementary school students across the United States. Mission duration was 5 days, 23 hours and 38 minutes.
STS-77
On his last mission he served as a Mission Specialist (MS-3) on the crew of STS-77 aboard the Space Shuttle ENDEAVOUR (OV-105). Launching from KSC’s launch pad 39B on May 19, 1996, STS-77 carried a number of technology development experiments as well as a suite of microgravity science experiments. STS-77 also featured the fourth flight of a SpaceHab module, in this case a double module, as an experiment laboratory carried in ENDEAVOUR’s payload bay. The technology development experiments included two deployable satellites both of which were deployed by Runco. For the deploy of the Shuttle Pointed Autonomous Research Tool for Astronomy (SPARTAN)-207/Inflatable Antenna Experiment Runco was the Remote Manipulator System (Robotic Arm) operator. The other deployable was a small Satellite Test Unit (STU) which was designed to use the drag from the rarified atmosphere present in low Earth orbit and the Earth’s magnetic field for attitude control and stabilization. His foresight in having high resolution and low light level photography equipment and a high intensity spotlight added to the mission’s suite of photography equipment and insisting that a second overhead window rather than a blank be installed in the second of the twin SpaceHab modules, salvaged this experiment when its laser Attitude Measuring System (AMS), also installed in the payload bay, failed shortly after deploy of the satellite. He used these assets and his photographic expertise to capture video of the STU as Endeavour tracked and flew astern of it for several days. Principal investigators were able to use the video retrieved by Runco in lieu of the AMS data to complete their evaluations. A clip from this video of the STU have even been posted on the internet as proof of the existence of UFO’s. He also captured some additional "Physics of Toys" scenes for a sequel to the original STS-54 educational video and subsequently made several appearances on the children’s television show Sesame Street (Episodes 3696**, 3698, 3731, 3776, and 3785) in 1998 for the “Slimey to the Moon” series during Season 29 (1997-98). STS-77 landed at KSC’s SLF runway 33 on May 29, 1996, completing 161 orbits of the Earth. Mission duration was 10 days and 39 minutes.
Post-spaceflight
Upon leaving the astronaut office, Runco became the JSC lead for spacecraft window optics and utilization endeavouring to have optical quality windows installed in the ISS and all future spacecraft. As such, he assisted with the design of the ISS’s U.S. Laboratory Destiny Module Nadir Science Window and Cupola Windows. He also was a key designer of the WORF installed over the Destiny science window and was a co-principal investigator on the University of North Dakota’s ISS Agricultural Camera (ISS AgCam/ISSAC), which operated from the WORF. In addition, he helped with the design and facilitated the integration of several other WORF payloads including EarthKAM, IMAX for the filming of Toni Myers’ last film, “A Beautiful Planet", Nanoracks, ISS SERVIR Environmental Research and Visualization System (I-SERV), and Chiba University’s (Japan) “Meteor” observation study.
Personal life
Runco married the former Susan Kay Friess of Sylvania, Ohio. They have two children. He is also a former New Jersey state trooper and USGS research hydrologist.
Publications
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8. Runco Jr., Mario and Karen P. Scott. Requirements for Optical Properties for Windows Used in Crewed Spacecraft (JSC-63307), Baseline ed. Houston, Texas 77058-3696: NASA, 6-28-2007. pp. 1-11, A1-A3. 1 vols. NASA - Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Web. 10 May 2011. (Approved for Public Release) <NASA-JSC Scientific and Technical Information Center [STIC] Library>
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10. Runco, Mario, Dean B. Eppler, Karen P. Scott2, & Susan K. Runco. Earth Science and Remote Sensing from the International Space Station utilizing the Destiny Laboratory’s Science Window and the Window Observational Research Facility. Proceedings of the 30th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE), Information for Risk Management and Sustainable Development, Pages 737-740; Honolulu, Hawaii; November 10-14, 2003 (Symposium organized by the East-West Center [EWC], Honolulu, Hawaii; the International Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing [ISPRS], Bethesda, Maryland [American Chapter]; and the International Center for Remote Sensing of Environment, Tucson, Arizona) [].
11. Scott, Karen P., Leonard W. Brownlow, & Mario Runco. International Space Station Cupola Scratch Pane Window Optical Test Results (The Aerospace Corp. Assessment JA3138, Publication #: ATR-2003(7828)-1), Houston, TX 77058: NASA-JSC Contract No. NAS9-00090, Flight System Safety and Mission Assurance Division, NASA - Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center 77058-3696, January 17, 2003. (Approved for Public Release) < NASA-JSC Scientific and Technical Information Center Library>
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References
- Spacefest profile