Norman Earl Thagard (born July 3, 1943; Capt, USMC, Ret.) is an American scientist and former U.S. Marine Corps officer and naval aviator and NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five space flights and on March 14, 1995, he became the first American to ride to space on board a Russian vehicle, the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft for the Russian Mir-18 mission.

Personal life

Thagard was born July 3, 1943, in Marianna, Florida, but considers Jacksonville, Florida, to be his hometown. He is married to Rex Kirby Johnson, formerly of South Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. They have three sons. His father, Mr. James E. Thagard, and his mother, Mrs. Mary F. Key, are both deceased. During his free time, he enjoys classical music and electronic design.

Education and military service

Thagard earned a Bachelors and Masters Degrees in Engineering Science from Florida State University in Tallahassee by 1966.

In September 1966 he entered active duty with the United States Marine Corps Reserve. He achieved the rank of captain in 1967, was designated a Naval Aviator in 1968 and was subsequently assigned to duty flying F-4 Phantom IIs with VMFA-333 at Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort, South Carolina. He flew 163 combat missions in Vietnam while assigned to VMFA-115 from January 1969 to 1970. He is a licensed physician.

NASA career

Thagard was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978.

Thagard then flew on STS-51-B, the Spacelab-3 science mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 29, 1985, aboard Challenger. During the mission he served as flight engineer, sitting on the flight deck and assisting the commander and pilot during ascent and entry. Mission duration was 168 hours. Duties on orbit included satellite deployment operation with the NUSAT satellite as well as animal care for the 24 rats and two squirrel monkeys contained in the Research Animal Holding Facility (RAHF). Other duties were operation of the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell (GFFC), Urinary Monitoring System (UMS) and the Ionization States of Solar and Galactic Cosmic Ray Heavy Nuclei (IONS) experiment. After 110 orbits of the Earth, Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 6, 1985.

He next served on the crew of STS-30, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on May 4, 1989, aboard the Orbiter Atlantis. Thagard again served as flight engineer. During this four-day mission, crew members deployed the Magellan Venus-exploration spacecraft, the first U.S. planetary science mission launched since 1978, and the first planetary probe to be deployed from the Shuttle. Magellan arrived at Venus in mid-1990 and mapped the entire surface of Venus using specialized radar instruments. In addition, crew members also worked on secondary payloads involving fluid research in general, chemistry and electrical storm studies. Mission duration was 97 hours. Following 64 orbits of the Earth, the STS-30 mission concluded with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on May 8, 1989.

Thagard served as payload commander on STS-42, aboard the orbiter Discovery, which lifted off from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on January 22, 1992. Fifty five major experiments conducted in the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 module were provided by investigators from eleven countries, and represented a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. During 128 orbits of the Earth, the STS-42 crew accomplished the mission's primary objective of investigating the effects of microgravity on materials processing and life sciences. In this unique laboratory in space, crew members worked around-the-clock in two shifts. Experiments investigated the microgravity effects on the growth of protein and semiconductor crystals. Biological experiments on the effects of zero gravity on plants, tissues, bacteria, insects and human vestibular response were also conducted. This eight-day mission culminated in a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 30, 1992.

On his last mission, Thagard was a crew member for the Russian Mir EO-18 mission. Twenty-eight experiments were conducted in the course of the 115-day flight. The crew lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard Soyuz TM-21 on March 14, 1995. The mission culminated in a landing at the Kennedy Space Center on the Space Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-71 on July 7, 1995.

Post-NASA career

Thagard retired from NASA in December 1995 He became a tenured professor and associate dean for college relations in the FAMU - FSU College of Engineering.

In 1996, at the request of the Smithsonian Institution, Thagard's Russian "SOKOL" space suit was donated to the National Air & Space Museum Norman Thagard also served as an aerospace consultant and was technical advisor for Virus, a 1999 film starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland, and for Armageddon (1998) starring Bruce Willis, Ben Affleck, and Liv Tyler.

In 1998, Norm Thagard was appointed to the Board of Directors of EMS Technologies, Inc. EMS is an Atlanta-based communications company.

In 2003, Thagard co-founded the Challenger Learning Center of Tallahassee, with shuttle/mission control/space station simulators, digital space theater/planetarium and IMAX theater. Thagard's interest in part was driven by his close friendship with the family of Challenger astronaut Dick Scobee. He also serves as an advisor for Space Adventures, Ltd., a company offering aerospace experiences, including orbital flight.

In 2009, Thagard was elected Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He was also a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Journal of the Society for Human Performance in Extreme Environments.

Organizations

  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics
  • Aerospace Medical Association
  • Phi Kappa Phi
  • Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra

Awards and honors

Community recognition

  • Cecil Spaceport Mission Control Center named after Dr. Norman Thagard (2021)
  • Inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame (2004)
  • Designated Honorary Conch and Citizen of the Florida Keys (2000)
  • A small portion of Jacksonville, Florida's 5th Street, in front of his alma mater, Paxon High School, renamed "Norman E. Thagard" Blvd (1998)
  • Named as one of NASA's 15 "Superstars of Space Flight" (1996)
  • Florida State House and Senate Commendation Resolutions (1996)
  • City of Tallahassee Commendation Proclamation (1995 and 2004)

Academic and alumni recognition

  • Erskine Visiting Fellow, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand (2001)
  • The Society of NASA Flight Surgeons' 1997 W. Randolph Lovelace Award
  • Admitted to FSU's Circle of Gold Honorary Society (1998)
  • Honorary Doctorate Degree, Florida Atlantic University (1996)
  • Henry G. Armstrong Lecturer in Aerospace Medicine (1996)
  • American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics' 1996 Jeffries Medical Research Award
  • Aerospace Medical Association's 1996 Hubertus Strughold Award for Space Medicine
  • American Astronautical Society's 1983 and 1995 Melbourne W. Boynton Award
  • Florida State University's "Grad Made Good" Award (1983) and Wescott Medal (1995)
  • Florida State University's student health center designated the "Thagard Student Health Center" by legislative act (1986)

NASA awards

As a veteran of five (5) space flights, he is the recipient of the NASA Space Flight Medal for each flight. He was awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal and the NASA Sustained Superior Performance Award twice. In 1992, he was designated by the Commandant of the Marine Corps an honorary Naval Astronaut Pilot.

References