Kelly

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Kelly

James McNeal (Vegas) Kelly Status: Active. Trained as: Astronaut. Profession: Pilot. Sex: Male. Marital Status: Married. Children: Four. Birth Date: 14 May 1964. Birth City: Burlington. Birth State: Iowa. Birth Country: USA. Nationality: American. Group: 1996 NASA Group. Date Selected: 01 May 1996. Number of Flights: 1. Total Time: 12.83 days.

NASA Official Biography

NAME: James M. Kelly (Captain, USAF)

NASA Astronaut Candidate (Pilot)

PERSONAL DATA:

Born May 14, 1964 in Burlington, Iowa. Married to the former Dawn Renee Timmerman of Burlington, Iowa. They have four children. He enjoys family activities, biking, softball, reading, music. His parents, William & Mary Ann Kelly, reside in Burlington, Iowa. Her mother and step father, Kathleen and Russ Williams, reside in Danville, Iowa. Her father, Gerald Timmerman, is deceased.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Burlington Community High School, Burlington, Iowa, in 1982; received a bachelor of science degree in astronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1986; a master of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in 1996.

ORGANIZATIONS:

: U.S. Air Force Association of Graduates, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Distinguished Graduate in the class of 1986 at the U.S. Air Force Academy, with honors; Distinguished Graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training at Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Wichita Falls, Texas; Top Gun at F-15 initial training at Luke Air Force Base, Phoenix, Arizona; Distinguished Graduate and Liethen-Tittle award for the Outstanding Graduate of the Air Force Test Pilot School, class 93B; 2 Air Force Commendation medals, 2 Outstanding Unit Awards, 2 Combat Readiness medals, and various other service awards.

EXPERIENCE:

Kelly received his commission from the U.S. Air Force Academy in May 1986 and was designated an Air Force Pilot in October 1987. He then reported to the 426th F-15 Replacement Training Unit at Luke Air Force Base, Phoenix, Arizona for initial F-15 Eagle training. After completion, he was assigned to the 67th Fighter Squadron, 18th Fighter Wing at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan. During his tour in Japan, he was designated as an instructor pilot, evaluator pilot, and mission commander. He was reassigned in April 1992 to Otis Air National Guard Base in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, as part of Project TOTAL FORCE, where he continued flying the F-15 as an instructor and mission commander. He was selected for Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, Edwards, California, where he graduated in June 1994. After graduation, he was assigned to the Air Force Flight Test Center detachment at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was a project test pilot and assistant operations officer. He was at Nellis when selected for the astronaut program.

He has logged over 1,500 flight hours in more than 35 different aircraft.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Kelly reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996 to begin two years of training and evaluation. Successful completion of initial training will qualify him for various technical assignments leading to selection as a pilot on a Space Shuttle flight crew.

JANUARY 1997

Flight Log

STS-102 - - 2001 Mar 8 - Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 12.83 days. Flight details: STS-102.
Discovery was launched on mission STS-102 (Space Station flight 5A.1) into an initial 60 x 222 km x 51.6 deg orbit. The mission was delivery of supplies and equipment, and changeout of the Expedition One and Expedition Two station crews. STS-102 carried the Leonardo Multi Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), built by Alenia Spazio (Torino), to the International Space Station. The MPLM was a descendant of the Spacelab long modules. Also carried was a Spacehab/Energia unpressurized Integrated Cargo Carrier with LCA/MTSAS-A, RU, and PFCS. A sidewall adapter beam with two GAS canisters (G-783 and WSVFM) was also on board. WSVFM measured vibration during launch. Another adapter beam, probably at the rear of the payload bay, carried SEM-9. SEM-9 and G-783 contained high school microgravity experiments.
Leonardo carried 16 'racks' of equipment, including the Human Research Facility Rack (Rack 13) which allowed the astronauts to do extensive medical experiments, the CHeCS Rack (28), the DDCU-1 and DDCU-2 racks (7 and 9), the Avionics-3 (Rack 6), and the MSS Avionics/Lab (Rack 11) and Avionics/Cupola (Rack 12) racks for a total of 7 equipment racks to be installed on Destiny. Three Resupply Stowage Racks (50, 51, 52) and four Resupply Stowage Platforms (180, 181, 182 and 188) remained installed on Leonardo, with their equipment bags being individually transferred to the Station. System Racks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 were already on Destiny together with stowage racks 110 through 117. Each rack had a mass of 150-300 kg.
The orbiter fired its OMS engines at 1221 GMT to raise the orbit to 185 x 219 km. Discovery docked with the PMA-2 port on the Station at 0639 GMT on March 10. The LCA (Lab Cradle Assembly) was attached to Destiny's +Z side during an EVA. It was to be used on the next mission to temporarily place a Spacelab pallet on Destiny during installation of the Station's robot arm. Later, it would be the site for the main Station truss, beginning with segment S0.
The PMA-3, on Unity at the -Z nadir position, had to be moved to the port position to make room for Leonardo. An external stowage platform was attached to Destiny and the External Stowage Platform and the PFCS Pump Flow Control System were added to the port aft trunnion on Destiny. A rigid umbilical (RU) was connected to the PDGF grapple fixture on Destiny to support the Station's future robot arm. Leonardo was docked to Unity at -Z for a while so that its cargo could be transferred to the station easily; it was then be returned to the payload bay and brought back to earth.
At 0232 GMT on March 19 command of ISS was transferred to Expedition 2 and the hatches were closed. Discovery undocked at 0432 GMT and flew once around the station before departing at 0548 GMT. ISS mass after undocking was 115527 kg. The OMS engines fired for the deorbit burn at 0625 GMT on March 21, and Discovery touched down on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 0731 GMT.

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Last update 3 May 2001.
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