Astronaut
Program Titles
- Retrieve the European Retrievable Carrier satellite: STS-57, Shuttle Endeavour
- Investigating the effects of microgravity on materials processing and life sciences: TS-42 Discovery shuttle,
- Atmosphere and magnetic field.: STS-30 Atlantis, Venetian
Ronald John Grabe is a former NASA Astronaut. He has earned the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Liethen-Tittle Award, the Royal Air Force Cross, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal, and NASA Space Flight Medals.
He served as a chief verification pilot for (Space Transportation System) STS-3 and STS-4 entry guidance, navigation, and control simulation testing, as the Deputy Manager for Operations Integration, Space Shuttle Program Office, and subsequently as the Chief of Training within the Astronaut Office.
A veteran of four space flights, Grabe served as a pilot on STS 51-J and STS-30 and was the mission commander on STS-42 and STS-57.
As a test pilot, Grabe logged more than 5,500 hours of flying time, and as an astronaut logged over 627 hours in space.
Has a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering science from the United States Air Force Academy; and studied aeronautics as a Fulbright Scholar.
He served as an exchange test pilot with the Royal Air Force at Boscombe Down, United Kingdom; During this tour of duty, he served as the chief project pilot for the Royal Air Force Harrier and the Royal Navy Sea Harrier.
His service on STS-51J, the second Space Shuttle Department of Defense mission, was the maiden voyage of the Atlantis, the final Orbiter in the Shuttle fleet, and it clocked 98 hours of orbital operations.
Grabe participated in the STS-30 Atlantis during the four-day mission, the crew successfully deployed the Magellan Venus exploration spacecraft, the first U.S. planetary science mission and the first planetary probe to be deployed from the Shuttle.
Magellan mapped over 95 percent of the surface of Venus. Magellan has been one of NASA’s most successful scientific missions and continues to operate, gaining information about the Venetian atmosphere and magnetic field. Following 64 orbits of the Earth, this exciting and important mission clocked almost 97 hours.
Grabe participated in the STS-42 Discovery shuttle, which had fifty-five major experiments conducted in the International Microgravity Laboratory-1 module provided by investigators from eleven countries and represented a broad spectrum of scientific disciplines. During 128 orbits of the Earth, the seven-person crew accomplished the mission’s primary objective of investigating the effects of microgravity on materials processing and life sciences.
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 during this eight-day mission clocked over 193 hours.
Grabe’s fourth mission was on the shuttle Endeavour; its primary mission was to retrieve the European Retrievable Carrier satellite.
STS-57 featured the first flight of the Spacehab, a commercially provided mid-deck augmentation module for the conduct of microgravity experiments. Spacehab carried out 22 individual flight experiments in materials processing and human factors.
A spacewalk was conducted on this flight as part of an ongoing program to evaluate extravehicular activity (EVA) techniques for future missions.
The Space Shuttle Endeavour mission lasted almost 240 hours.
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