NASA Astronaut Luncheon
James H. Newman (Ph.D)

May 31, 2000
11:45 a.m - 1:15 p.m.

Personal Data:  Born October 16, 1956, in the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands, but considers San Diego, California, to be his hometown.   Married to Mary Lee Pieper.  Two children.  He enjoys hiking, soccer, softball, squash, and soaring.  His mother, Ms. Ruth Hansen, and his father, Dr. William Newman, are both residents of San Diego.  Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Wylie Bernard Pieper, reside in Houston, Texas.

Education:  Graduated from La Jolla High School, San Diego, California in 1974; received a bachelor of arts degree in physics (graduated cum laude) from Dartmouth College in 1978, a master of arts degree and a doctorate in physics from Rice University in 1982 and 1984, respectively.

Special Honors:  Awarded a Citation in Senior Thesis Research from Dartmouth College in 1978.  Elected to Sigma Xi in 1980.  Recipient of 1982-83 Texaco Fellowship, the Sigma Xi Graduate Merit Award in 1985, and 1988 NASA Superior Achievement Award.  Selected by NASA JSC to attend the 1989 summer session of the International Space University in Strasbourg, France.  1996 NASA Exceptional Service Medal.  Institute of Navigation 1995 Superior Achievement Award (1996).

Experience:  After graduating from Rice University in 1984, Dr. Newman did an additional year of post-doctoral work at Rice.  His research interests are in atomic and molecular physics, specifically medium to low energy collisions of atoms and molecules of aeronomic interest.  His doctoral work at Rice University was in the design, construction, testing, and use of a new position-sensitive detection system for measuring differential cross sections of collisions of atoms and molecules.  In 1985, Dr. Newman was appointed as adjunct professor in the Department of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice University.  That same year he came to work at NASA's Johnson Space Center, where his duties included responsibility for conducting flight crew and flight control team training for all mission phases in the areas of Orbiter propulsion, guidance, and control.  He was working as simulation supervisor when selected for the astronaut program.  In that capacity, he was responsible for a team of instructors conducting flight controller training.

Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Newman began astronaut training in July 1990.   His technical assignments since then include: Astronaut Office Mission Support Branch where he was part of a team responsible for crew ingress/strap-in prior to launch and crew egress after landing; Mission Development Branch working on the Shuttle on-board laptop computers; Chief of the Computer Support Branch in the Astronaut Office, responsible for crew involvement in the development and use of computers on the Space Shuttle and Space Station.  He flew as a mission specialist on STS-51 (1993), STS-69 (1995) and STS-88 (1998).  A veteran of three space flights, Dr. Newman has logged over 779 hours in space, including four spacewalks totaling 28 hours, 27 minutes.   Detailed to the Orbiter Program Office in March 1999 for a one to two year tour of duty, Newman is currently the RMS Integration Manager responsible for the Orbiter robotic arm and the Space Vision System.

Space Flight Experience:  STS-51 Discovery, was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on September 12, 1993.  During the ten-day flight, the crew of five deployed the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) and the Orbiting and Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometer on the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (ORFEUS/SPAS).  Newman was responsible for the operation of the SPAS, was the backup operator for the RMS, and on flight day conducted a seven-hour, five minute spacewalk with Carl Walz.  The extravehicular activity (EVA) tested tools and techniques for use on future missions.  In addition to working with numerous secondary payloads and medical test objectives, the crew successfully tested a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver to determine real-time Shuttle positions and velocities and completed a test routing Orbiter data to on-board laptop computers.  After 158 orbits of the Earth in 236 hours, 11 minutes, the mission concluded on September 22, 1993, with the first night landing at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida.

STS-69 Endeavour (September 7-18, 1995), was an eleven-day mission during which the crew successfully deployed and retrieved a SPARTAN satellite and the Wake Shield Facility (WSF).  Also on board was the International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker payload, numerous secondary payloads, and medical experiments.  Newman was responsible for the crew's science involvement with the WSF and was also the primary RMS operator on the flight, performing the WSF and EVA RMS operations.  He also operated the on-orbit tests of the Ku-band Communications Adaptor, the Relative GPS experiment, and the RMS Manipulator Positioning Display.  The mission was accomplished in 171 orbits of the Earth in 260 hours, 29 minutes.

STS-88 Endeavour (December 4-15, 1998), was the first International Space Station assembly mission.  During the twelve-day mission the Unity module was mated with Zarya module.  Newman performed three spacewalks with Jerry Ross, totaling 21 hours, 22 minutes.  The primary objective of the spacewalks was to connect external power and data umbilicals between Zarya and Unity.  Other objectives include setting up the Early Communication antennas, deploying antennas on Zarya that had failed to deploy as expected, installing a sunshade to protect an external computer, installing translation aids, and attaching tools/hardware for use in future EVA's.  The crew also performed IMAX Cargo Bay Camera (ICBC) operations, and deployed two satellites, Mighty Sat 1, sponsored by the Air Force, and SAC-A, from Argentina.  The mission was accomplished in 185 orbits of the Earth in 283 hours and 18 minutes.