Rominger

This page no longer updated from 31 October 2001. Latest version can be found at www.astronautix.com

Rominger

Kent Vernon Rominger Status: Active. Trained as: Astronaut. Profession: Pilot. Sex: Male. Marital Status: Married. Children: One. Birth Date: 07 August 1956. Birth City: Del Norte. Birth State: Colorado. Birth Country: USA. Nationality: American. Group: 1992 NASA Group. Date Selected: 31 March 1992. Number of Flights: 4. Total Time: 55.23 days.

NASA Official Biography

NAME: Kent V. Rominger (Commander, USN)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born August 7, 1956, in Del Norte, Colorado. Married to the former Mary Sue Rule. One child. He enjoys snow skiing, water skiing, horseback riding, and running. His parents, Mr. & Mrs. R. Vernon Rominger, reside in Del Norte, Colorado. Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Delbert Rule, of Durango, Colorado, are deceased.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Del Norte High School, Del Norte, Colorado, in 1974; received a bachelor of science degree in civil engineering from Colorado State University in 1978; a master of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1987.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Association of Naval Aviation, and Chi Epsilon Civil Engineering Society.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Recipient of Navy Commendation Medal, National Defense Medal, Southwest Asia Service Medal, Expert Rifle and Pistol Medals, and various unit and service awards. Distinguished graduate, U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. NATC Test Pilot of the Year (1988). Ray E. Tenhoff Award for most outstanding presentation at 34th Annual Society of Experimental Test Pilots Symposium (1990). Top-Ten Carrier Landing Distinction in Airwings Two and Nine. West Coast Tomcat Fighter Pilot of the Year (1992).

EXPERIENCE:

Rominger received his commission through the Aviation Reserve Officer Candidate (AVROC) Program in 1979, and was designated a Naval Aviator in September 1980. Following training in the F-14 Tomcat, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron Two (VF-2) from October 1981 to January 1985 aboard the USS Ranger and USS Kitty Hawk. While assigned to VF-2 Rominger attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School (Topgun). In 1987 he completed the Naval Postgraduate School/Test Pilot School Cooperative Program, and was assigned as F-14 Project Officer to the Carrier Suitability Branch of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate at Patuxent River, Maryland. During his tour of duty Rominger completed the initial carrier suitability sea trials of the F-14B, logging the first aircraft carrier arrestment and catapult launch in the upgraded Tomcat. In September 1990 he reported to Fighter Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VF-211) where he served as Operations Officer and completed a Desert Storm Deployment to the Arabian Gulf aboard USS Nimitz.

He has logged over 4,500 flying hours in over 35 types of aircraft and 685 carrier landings.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Selected by NASA in March 1992, Rominger reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and is qualified for assignment as a pilot on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Rominger was initially assigned to work technical issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch. A veteran of two space flights, STS-73 in 1995 and STS-80 in 1996, Rominger has logged 33 days, 13 hours, 45 minutes and 21 seconds in space. He will serve as pilot 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.

From October 20 to November 5, 1995, Rominger served as pilot aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-73, the second United States Microgravity Laboratory mission. The mission focused on materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, the physics of fluids, and numerous scientific experiments housed in the pressurized Spacelab module. In completing his first space flight, Rominger orbited the earth 256 times, traveled over 6 million miles, and logged a total of 15 days, 21 hours, 52 minutes and 21 seconds in space.

From November 19 to December 7, 1996, Rominger served as pilot aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on STS-80. During the flight, the crew deployed and retrieved the Wake Shield Facility (WSF) and the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer (ORFEUS) satellites. The free-flying WSF created a super vacuum in its wake and grew thin film wafers for use in semiconductors and other high-tech electrical components. The ORFEUS instruments, mounted on the reusable Shuttle Pallet Satellite, studied the origin and makeup of stars. In completing his second spaceflight, Rominger orbited the earth a record 278 times, traveled over 7 million miles and logged 17 days, 15 hours and 53 minutes in space.

MARCH 1997

Flight Log

STS-73 - - 1995 Oct 20 - Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 15.91 days. Flight details: STS-73.
Carried USML-2 for microgravity experiments (attached to Columbia). Payloads: United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML) 2, Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE).
STS-80 - - 1996 Nov 19 - Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 17.66 days. Flight details: STS-80.
Mission STS-80 carried the Orfeus astronomy satellite, the Wake Shield Facility, and spacewalk equipment. The Orfeus satellite was deployed on November 20. It carried an ultraviolet telescope and spectrographs. Wake Shield Facility was deployed on November 22 and retrieved on November 26 . On 1996 Nov 29, crewmembers Tamara Jernigan and Thomas Jones were to conduct the first of several planned EVAs. However the shuttle's exit hatch would not open and NASA cancelled this and the other planned spacewalks of the mission. On December 4 at the astronauts retrieved the Orfeus satellite using the RMS arm. Reentry attempts on Dec 5 and Dec 6 were called off due to bad weather. Columbia finally landed at 11:49 GMT December 7 on Runway 33 at Kennedy Space Center, making STS-80 the longest shuttle mission to that date .
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-96 - - 1999 May 27 - Assignment: Prime Crew. Flight Time: 9.80 days. Flight details: STS-96.
Discovery docked at the PMA-2 end of the International Space Station PMA-2/Unity/PMA-1/Zarya stack. The crew transferred equipment from the Spacehab Logistics Double Module in the payload bay to the interior of the station. Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry made a space walk to transfer equipment from the payload bay to the exterior of the station. The ODS/EAL docking/airlock truss carried two TSA (Tool Stowage Assembly) packets with space walk tools. The Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC), built by Energia and DASA-Bremen, carried parts of the Strela crane and the US OTD crane as well as the SHOSS box which contains three bags of tools and equipment to be stored on ISS's exterior.
The STS-96 payload bay manifest:
- Bay 1-2: Orbiter Docking System/External Airlock
- Bay 3-4: Tunnel Adapter S/N 001
- Bay 5-7: Spacehab Tunnel
- Bay 5: Keel Yoke Device (KYD) and Integrated Cargo Carrier (ICC)
- Bay 8-12: Spacehab Logistics Double Module
- Bay 13 Port: Adapter Beam (ABA) with IVHM
- Bay 13 Stbd: Adapter Beam (ABA) with SVF/Starshine
- Sill: RMS Arm S/N 303
The STS-96 stack, on mobile launcher 2, was rolled back out to pad 39B after hail damage to the external tank had been repaired. On the launch day, solid rocket booster separation was at 10:51 GMT, main engine cut-off of external tank ET-100 at 10:57 GMT. Discovery was in an initial 74 km x 320 km x 51.6 degree transfer orbit. After the OMS-2 burn at 11:32 GMT, the orbit was 324 km x 341 km x 51.6 degree. Discovery docked with the International Space Station's PMA-2 docking port at 04:24 GMT on May 29. ISS was in a 379 km x 385 km x 51.6 degree orbit. In its configuration at that time it consisted of the PMA-2 docking port, NASA's Unity node, the NASA-owned, Russian-built Zarya module, and the PMA-1 docking unit connecting Unity and Zarya.
On May 30 at 02:56 GMT Tammy Jernigan and Dan Barry entered the payload bay of Discovery from the tunnel adapter hatch, and made a 7 hr 55 min space walk, transferring equipment to the exterior of the station.
On May 31 at 01:15 GMT the hatch to Unity was opened and the crew began several days of cargo transfers to the station. Battery units and communications equipment were replaced and sound insulation was added to Zarya. Discovery undocked from ISS at 22:39 GMT on June 3 into a 385 x 399 km x 51.6 degree orbit, leaving the station without a crew aboard. On June 5 the Starshine satellite was ejected from the payload bay. The payload bay doors were closed at around 02:15 GMT on June 6 and the deorbit burn was at 04:54 GMT. Discovery landed on runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center at 06:02 GMT.

Back to Index

Last update 3 May 2001.
To contact astronauts or cosmonauts.
Contact Mark Wade with any corrections or comments. Cosmonaut data by Alexander B. Zheleznyakov.

Conditions for use of drawings, pictures, or other materials from this site..
© Mark Wade, 2001 .