David Wolf (astronaut)

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David Wolf (astronaut) bigraphy, stories - American astronaut

David Wolf (astronaut) : biography

August 23, 1956 –

David Alexander Wolf (born 23 August 1956) is an American astronaut, medical doctor, electrical engineer. Wolf has been to space four times. Three of his spaceflights were short-duration Space Shuttle missions, the first of which was STS-58 in 1993, and his most recent spaceflight was STS-127 in 2009. Wolf also took part in a long-duration mission aboard the Russian space station Mir which lasted 128 days, and occurred during Mir EO-24. He was brought to Mir aboard STS-86 in September 1997, and landed aboard STS-89 in January 1998. In total Wolf has logged more than 4,040 hours in space. He is also a veteran of 7 spacewalks totaling 41hrs 17min in both Russian and American spacesuits.

NASA career

David Wolf began his NASA career in the Medical Sciences Division at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. He was responsible for engineering development and spacecraft avionics integration of the American Flight Echocardiograph for investigating cardiovascular physiology in microgravity. Upon completion he was assigned as chief engineer for design of the Space Station medical facility, directly responsible for multidisciplinary team management, requirements definition, system design, spacecraft systems integration, project schedule, functional and safety verification, and budgetary authority. Dave Wolf was selected by NASA as a candidate in 1990. He completed 18 months of training before being qualified for flight. He was assigned to Kennedy Space Center in Florida where he was involved in Orbiter vehicle processing and testing and as a Capcom. He is expert in Extravehicular Activity (Spacewalk), Spacesuit design, and Rendezvous navigation. Some of his other qualifications include Robotic Manipulator System (Robot Arm) operations, On-orbit systems repair, computer networking, and as Shuttle re-entry flight deck engineer.

During his training for a Mir expedition, he lived and trained in Star City, Russia at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Dr. Wolf became fluent in Russian, as all of his training there was in Russian.

Education

David Wolf graduated from North Central High School. Wolf then went on to earn a degree in electrical engineering from Purdue University, where he graduated with distinction and became a brother in the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity. In 1982, he earned a medical degree from Indiana University School of Medicine. He subsequently trained as a flight surgeon with the United States Air Force. Wolf joined the staff of Johnson Space Center in 1983 and investigated the physiological effects of microgravity.

Spaceflight Experience

STS-58

David Wolf served as mission specialist 3 aboard Columbia during the STS-58 mission. STS-58, designated Spacelab Life Sciences 2, was the second dedicated mission to study regulatory physiology, cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal and neuroscience. The mission lasted 14 days, 0 hours, 12 minutes and 32 seconds. Columbia landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California. At the time of landing STS-58 was the longest duration mission flown.

Mir Expedition 24

Wolf flew aboard Atlantis on STS-86 in September 1997. Wolf was only on board for a short time as he was being transported to the Russian Mir space station. Atlantis docked with the Mir space station on 27 September 1997, which marked the start of Dave Wolf’s stay on Mir.

David Wolf spent 128 days aboard space station Mir. He conducted a number of experiments and studies including, advanced microgravity tissue engineering techniques, electromagnetic levitation platform capability, colloid behavior, Radio-tracer studies of altered human erythropoetic function, and human microgravity physiology studies. During his stay, there were a number of systems failures including multiple failed spacecraft systems, including atmospheric life support, three total power system failures, loss of attitude control, primary computer system failure, humidity separation system loss. An emergency ingress had to be made during an EVA performed in the Russian Orlan spacesuit due to airlock hatch failure. The entire mission and training were conducted solely in Russian.