Robinson

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Robinson

Dr Stephen Kern Robinson Status: Active. Trained as: Astronaut. Profession: Mission Specialist. Sex: Male. Marital Status: Single. Birth Date: 26 October 1955. Birth City: Sacramento. Birth State: California. Birth Country: USA. Nationality: American. Degree: PhD. Group: 1995 NASA Group. Date Selected: 09 December 1994. Number of Flights: 2. Total Time: 20.76 days.

NASA Official Biography

NAME: Stephen K. Robinson (Ph.D.): NASA Astronaut
PERSONAL DATA:: Born October 26, 1955, in Sacramento, California. Unmarried. Enjoys flying, antique aircraft, swimming, canoeing, hiking, music, art, computer graphics and stereo photography. His parents, William and Joyce Robinson, reside in Moraga, California.
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EDUCATION:: Graduated from Campolindo High School, Moraga, California, 1973; Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical/aeronautical engineering from University of California at Davis, 1978; Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University, 1985; Doctorate in mechanical engineering, with a minor in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University, 1990.
ORGANIZATIONS:: American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Aerospace Medical Association, Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, Experimental Aircraft Association.
SPECIAL HONORS:: NASA Ames Honor Award for Scientist (1989); American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Outstanding Technical Paper Award for Applied Aerodynamics (co-author) (1992); NASA/Space Club G.M. Low Memorial Engineering Fellowship (1993).
EXPERIENCE:: Robinson started work for NASA in 1975 as a student co-op at NASA's Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California. After graduation from University of California at Davis, he joined NASA Ames as a research scientist in the fields of fluid dynamics, aerodynamics, experimental instrumentation, and computational scientific visualization. While at Ames, Robinson earned masters and doctorate degrees in mechanical engineering at Stanford University, with research emphasis in turbulence physics, and additional research in human eye dynamics. In 1990, Robinson was selected as Chief of the Experimental Flow Physics Branch at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia, with responsibility for 8 wind tunnels and an engineering staff engaged in aerodynamics and fluids research. In 1993, Robinson was awarded the NASA/Space Club G.M. Low Memorial Engineering Fellowship, and was assigned for 15-months to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) as Visiting Engineer in the Man Vehicle Laboratory (MVL). As an MVL team-member, he conducted neurovestibular research on astronauts on the Spacelab Life Sciences 2 Shuttle mission (STS-58). Other MIT research included EVA dynamics for satellite capture and space construction. While in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Robinson was also a visiting scientist at the U.S. Department of Transportation's Volpe National Transportation Systems Center, doing research on environmental modeling for flight simulation, cockpit human factors for GPS-guided instrument approach procedures, and moving-map displays. Robinson returned to NASA Langley in September 1994, where he accepted a dual assignment as research scientist in the Multidisciplinary Design Optimization Branch, and as leader of the Aerodynamics and Acoustics element of NASA's General Aviation Technology program. Robinson has over 1000 hours in aircraft ranging from antique taildraggers to NASA jets.
NASA EXPERIENCE:: Selected by NASA in December 1994, Dr. Robinson reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. He completed a year of training and evaluation and was assigned to the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) for the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch.
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:: Dr. Robinson will serve as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-85 during Discovery's 11-day mission to study changes in the Earth's atmosphere. STS-85 is targeted for a July 1997 launch.

FEBRUARY 1997

Flight Log

STS-85 - - 1997 Aug 7 - Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 11.85 days. Flight details: STS-85.
Deployed and retrieved the CRISTA-SPAS-2 (the Cryogenic Infrared Spectrometers and Telescopes for the Atmosphere-Shuttle Pallet Satellite-2) designed to study Earth's middle atmosphere. The CRISTA-SPAS-2 was making its second flight on the Space Shuttle and represented the fourth mission in a cooperative venture between the German Space Agency (DARA) and NASA.
CRISTA-SPAS was deployed by the RMS arm at 22:27 GMT on August 7 and was recaptured by Discovery's RMS arm at 15:14 GMT on August 16. Because of unfavorable weather conditions at the primary shuttle landing site at the Kennedy Space Center, Discovery was waved off for its scheduled August 18 landing. STS-85 landed the next day, at Kennedy Space Center at 11:08 GMT.
STS-95 - - 1998 Oct 29 - Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 8.91 days. Flight details: STS-95.
The flight of STS-95 provoked more publicity for NASA than any other flight in years, due to the presence of ex-astronaut Senator John Glenn on the crew, which also included the first Spanish astronaut, Pedro Duque. The US Navy PANSAT student satellite was deployed on Oct 30 into a 550 km x 561 x 28.5 degree orbit. The Spartan 201 satellite was deployed from Discovery on November 1 and retrieved on November 3. Spartan 201 was on its fifth mission to observe the solar corona. The data on this mission would be used to recalibrate the SOHO satellite which recently resumed observation of the Sun following loss of control. Discovery landed at 17:03:31 GMT November 7 on Runway 33 at the Shuttle Landing Facility at Kennedy Space Center.

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Last update 3 May 2001.
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