Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058

Biographical Data

NAME: Steven A. Hawley (Ph.D.)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born December 12, 1951, in Ottawa, Kansas, but considers Salina, Kansas, to be his hometown. Married to the former Eileen M. Keegan of Redondo Beach, California. He enjoys basketball, softball, golf, running, playing bridge, and umpiring. His parents, Dr. and Mrs. Bernard Hawley, reside in Surprise, Arizona. Her mother, Mrs. Jo Keegan, resides in Houston, Texas.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Salina (Central) High School, Salina, Kansas, in 1969; received bachelor of arts degrees in physics and astronomy (graduating with highest distinction) from the University of Kansas in 1973, and a doctor of philosophy in astronomy and astrophysics from the University of California in 1977.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the American Astronomical Society, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Sigma Pi Sigma, and Phi Beta Kappa.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Evans Foundation Scholarship, 1970; University of Kansas Honor Scholarship, 1970; Summerfield Scholarship, 1970-1973; Veta B. Lear Award, 1970; Stranathan Award, 1972; Outstanding Physics Major Award, 1973; University of California Regents Fellowship, 1974; Group Achievement Award for software testing at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, 1981; NASA Outstanding Performance Award, 1981; NASA Superior Performance Award, 1981; Group Achievement Award for Second Orbiter Test and Checkout at Kennedy Space Center, 1982; Quality Increase, 1982; NASA Space Flight Medals, 1984 & 1986; Group Achievement Award for JSC Strategic Planning, 1987; NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 1988; Special Achievement Award, 1988; Exceptional Service Medal for Return to Flight, 1988; NASA Space Flight Medal, 1990; Outstanding Leadership Medal, 1990; Special Achievement Award, 1990; Exceptional Service Medal, 1991; Haley Flight Achievement Award, 1991; Kansan of the Year Award, 1992; Group Achievement Award for ESIG 3000 Integration Project, 1994; Presidential Rank Award, 1994; Group Achievement Award for Space Shuttle Program Functional Workforce Review, 1995; Group Achievement Award for SFOC Contract Acquisition, 1997; NASA Space Flight Medal, 1997; Kansas Aviation Hall of Fame, 1997; Kansas University Distinguished Service Citation, 1998.

EXPERIENCE:

Hawley attended the University of Kansas, majoring in physics and astronomy. He spent three summers employed as a research assistant: 1972 at the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington, D.C., and 1973 and 1974 at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Green Bank, West Virginia. He attended graduate school at Lick Observatory, University of California, Santa Cruz. His research involved spectrophotometry of gaseous nebulae and emission-line galaxies with particular emphasis on chemical abundance determinations for these objects. The results of his research have been published in major astronomical journals. Prior to his selection by NASA in 1978, Hawley was a post-doctoral research associate at Cerro Tololo Inter-American Observatory in La Serena, Chile.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Dr. Hawley was selected as a NASA astronaut in January 1978. Prior to STS-1, he served as a simulator pilot for software checkout at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL). For STS-2, STS-3, and STS-4, he was a member of the astronaut support crew at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, for Orbiter test and checkout, and also served as prime close-out crewman for STS-3 and STS-4. During 1984-1985, he was Technical Assistant to the Director, Flight Crew Operations. From 1987-1990, Dr. Hawley was Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office. In June 1990, Dr. Hawley left the Astronaut Office to assume the post of Associate Director of NASA's Ames Research Center in California. In August 1992, Dr. Hawley returned to the Johnson Space Center as Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations. In February 1996, Dr. Hawley was returned to astronaut flight status and named to the crew of the second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission. Upon completion of STS-82, Dr. Hawley resumed his position as Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:

A veteran of four space flights, Dr. Hawley has logged a total of 651 hours and 37 minutes in space. He served as a mission specialist on STS-41D in 1984, STS-61C in 1986, STS-31 in 1990 and STS-82 in 1997. STS-41D launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 30, 1984. Crew members included Hank Hartsfield (spacecraft commander), Mike Coats (pilot), Judy Resnik and Mike Mullane (mission specialists), and Charlie Walker (payload specialist). This was the maiden flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery. During the 7-day mission the crew successfully activated the OAST-1 solar cell wing experiment, deployed the SBS-D, SYNCOM IV-2, and TELSTAR 3-C satellites, operated the CFES-III experiment, the student crystal growth experiment, as well as photography experiments using the IMAX motion picture camera. STS-41D completed 96 orbits of the Earth in 144 hours and 57 minutes before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on September 5, 1984.

STS-61C launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on January 12, 1986. Crew members included Robert "Hoot" Gibson (spacecraft commander), Charles Bolden (pilot), Franklin Chang-Díaz and George "Pinky" Nelson (mission specialists), Robert Cenker of RCA, and Congressman Bill Nelson (payload specialists). During the 6-day flight of Columbia the crew deployed the SATCOM KU satellite and conducted experiments in astrophysics and materials processing. Mission duration was 146 hours and 03 minutes. STS-61C made a successful night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 18, 1986.

STS-31 launched on April 24, 1990, from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The crew aboard Space Shuttle Discovery included Loren Shriver (spacecraft commander), Charlie Bolden (pilot), Bruce McCandless and Kathy Sullivan (mission specialists). During the 5-day mission, crew members deployed the Hubble Space Telescope, and conducted a variety of middeck experiments involving the study of protein crystal growth, polymer membrane processing, and the effects of weightlessness and magnetic fields on an ion arc. They also operated a variety of cameras, including both the IMAX in-cabin and cargo bay cameras, for Earth observations from their record-setting altitude of 380 miles. Following 76 orbits of the earth in 121 hours, Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on April 29, 1990.

STS-82, the second Hubble Space Telescope (HST) maintenance mission, launched at night on February 11 and returned to a night landing at Kennedy Space Center on February 21, 1997. During the flight, Dr. Hawley's primary role was to operate the Shuttle's 50-foot robot arm to retrieve and redeploy the HST following completion of upgrades and repairs. Dr. Hawley also operated the robot arm during five space walks in which two teams installed two new spectrometers and eight replacement instruments. They also replaced insulation patches over three compartments containing key data processing, electronics and scientific instrument telemetry packages. HST was then redeployed and boosted to a higher orbit. The flight was completed in 149 orbits covering 3.8 million miles in 9 days, 23 hours, 37 minutes.