Kathryn P. Hire
Encyclopedia
Captain Kathryn Patricia "Kay" Hire of the U.S.
Navy Reserve
(born August 26, 1959, Mobile, Alabama
) is a NASA
astronaut
who has flown aboard two Space Shuttle
missions.
wings in October 1982, Hire conducted worldwide airborne oceanographic research missions with Oceanographic Development Squadron Eight (VXN-8) based at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland
. She flew as Oceanographic Project Coordinator, Mission Commander and Detachment Officer-in-Charge on board specially configured RP-3A
and RP-3D Orion
aircraft.
Hire later instructed student naval flight officers while assigned to Naval Air Training Unit Mather (NAVAIRTU Mather), a tenant command associated with the 323d Flying Training Wing at Mather Air Force Base
, California
. While assigned to NAVAIRTU Mather, Hire progressed from Navigation Instructor and Course Manager to Curriculum Manager while concurrently assigned as a navigator flight instructor in the USAF T-43A
aircraft.
In January 1989, Hire resigned her Regular Navy commission and left active duty, accepting a Reserve commission and joining the Naval Reserve
at NAS Jacksonville, Florida
. Her initial tours of duty included Patrol Squadron Augment Unit VP-0545 and Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations Center 0574 and 0374.
Following the repeal of the Title 10 USC combat aircraft restriction for female military aviators in 1993, Hire was the first female in the U.S. military assigned to a combat aircrew, reporting to Patrol Squadron Sixty-Two (VP-62) on May 13, 1993 as a Navigator/Communicator flying the P-3C Update III Orion
maritime patrol aircraft. VP-62 was also based at NAS Jacksonville and Hire routinely deployed for flight operations throughout the North Atlantic, Europe and the Caribbean.
Hire later served with Detachment 0482, Tactical Support Center 0682, U.S. Seventh Fleet Detachment 111, and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Detachment 108. Recalled to full-time active military duty from 2001 to 2003, Hire supported Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom
as a member of the Headquarters, U.S. Central Command Current Operations and Joint Operations Center (JOC) staffs at MacDill AFB, Florida during Operation Enduring Freedom, followed by reassignment to the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
/U.S. Fifth Fleet staff for Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was promoted to her current rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy on December 1, 2002.
in May 1989, first as an Orbiter Processing Facility 3 Activation Engineer and later as a Space Shuttle Orbiter Mechanical Systems Engineer for Lockheed
Space Operations Company. In 1991 she certified as a Space Shuttle
Test Project Engineer (TPE) and headed the checkout of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
s (spacesuits) and Russian Orbiter Docking System. She was assigned as Supervisor of Space Shuttle Orbiter Mechanisms and Launch Pad Swing Arms in 1994.
Selected by NASA in December 1994, Hire reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. After a year of training, she worked in mission control as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM). Hire flew as Mission Specialist-2 on STS-90
Neurolab (1998) and logged over 381 hours in space. She served as the Astronaut Office Lead for Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
(SAIL), Shuttle Payloads, and Flight Crew Equipment. Hire was assigned to the Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) team for Kennedy Space Center Operations. She then journeyed to the International Space Station
as a Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle mission STS-130
.
Neurolab (April 17 – May 3, 1998). During the 16-day Spacelab
flight, the seven-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia
served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 life science experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain
and nervous system
. The STS-90 flight orbited the Earth 256 times, and covered 6.3 million miles.
STS-130
She also journeyed to the International Space Station as a Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle mission STS-130.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
Navy Reserve
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
(born August 26, 1959, Mobile, Alabama
Mobile, Alabama
Mobile is the third most populous city in the Southern US state of Alabama and is the county seat of Mobile County. It is located on the Mobile River and the central Gulf Coast of the United States. The population within the city limits was 195,111 during the 2010 census. It is the largest...
) is a NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
who has flown aboard two Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
missions.
Education
- Murphy High School, Mobile, Alabama, 1977
- Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and Management from the U.S. Naval Academy, 1981
- Master of Science degree in Space Technology from Florida Institute of TechnologyFlorida Institute of TechnologyFlorida Institute of Technology, also known as Florida Tech, is an independent private technical research university located in Melbourne, Florida, United States. Founded in 1958 as Brevard Engineering College, the institute has been known by its present name since 1966. Florida Tech's curriculum...
, 1991
Organizations
- Association of Space ExplorersAssociation of Space ExplorersThe Association of Space Explorers is a non-profit organization with a membership composed of people who have completed at least one Earth orbit in space . It was founded in 1985, and the current membership stands at 320 from 34 different countries...
- Association of Naval Aviation
- Institute of NavigationInstitute of NavigationThe Institute of Navigation is a non-profit professional organization for the advancement of the art and science of navigation. It was founded in 1945 and serves communities interested in navigation and positioning on land, air, sea and space. It is a worldwide organization with members in over...
- Naval Reserve Association
- U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association
- U.S. Sailing Association
Special honors
- Defense Superior Service MedalDefense Superior Service MedalThe Defense Superior Service Medal is a senior United States military decoration of the Department of Defense, awarded to members of the United States armed forces who perform "superior meritorious service in a position of significant responsibility."...
- Meritorious Service MedalMeritorious Service Medal (United States)The Meritorious Service Medal is a military decoration presented to members of the United States Armed Forces who distinguished themselves by outstanding meritorious achievement or service to the United States subsequent to January 16, 1969...
- Joint Service Commendation Medal
- National Defense Service MedalNational Defense Service MedalThe National Defense Service Medal is a military service medal of the United States military originally commissioned by President Dwight D. Eisenhower...
, (2) - Armed Forces Expeditionary MedalArmed Forces Expeditionary MedalThe Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States military, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy...
- War on Terrorism Service Medal
- Armed Forces Reserve MedalArmed Forces Reserve MedalThe Armed Forces Reserve Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces that has existed since 1950. The medal recognizes service performed by the Reserve and National Guard forces of the United States of America....
with silver Hourglass DeviceHourglass DeviceThe Hourglass Device is a military award of the United States armed forces presented as an attachment to the Armed Forces Reserve Medal. The Hourglass Device denotes total service as a member of the Reserve or National Guard and is issued in three degrees.... - NASA Space Flight MedalNASA Space Flight MedalThe NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronaut, pilot, mission specialist, payload specialist, or...
Navy experience
After earning her Naval Flight OfficerNaval Flight Officer
A Naval Flight Officer is an aeronautically designated commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps that specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots per se, but they may perform many "co-pilot" functions, depending on the type of aircraft...
wings in October 1982, Hire conducted worldwide airborne oceanographic research missions with Oceanographic Development Squadron Eight (VXN-8) based at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland
Maryland
Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
. She flew as Oceanographic Project Coordinator, Mission Commander and Detachment Officer-in-Charge on board specially configured RP-3A
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
and RP-3D Orion
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
aircraft.
Hire later instructed student naval flight officers while assigned to Naval Air Training Unit Mather (NAVAIRTU Mather), a tenant command associated with the 323d Flying Training Wing at Mather Air Force Base
Mather Air Force Base
Mather Air Force Base is a closed United States Air Force Base located east of Sacramento at Rancho Cordova, California on the south side of U.S. Route 50....
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. While assigned to NAVAIRTU Mather, Hire progressed from Navigation Instructor and Course Manager to Curriculum Manager while concurrently assigned as a navigator flight instructor in the USAF T-43A
Boeing T-43
|-See also:-External links:* http://www.militaryaircraft.de/pictures/military/aircraft/T-43/T-43A_Gator.html* http://www.gruntsmilitary.com/t43a.shtml* http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/agency/usaf/12ftw.htm...
aircraft.
In January 1989, Hire resigned her Regular Navy commission and left active duty, accepting a Reserve commission and joining the Naval Reserve
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve, until 2005 known as the United States Naval Reserve, is the Reserve Component of the United States Navy...
at NAS Jacksonville, Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...
. Her initial tours of duty included Patrol Squadron Augment Unit VP-0545 and Anti-Submarine Warfare Operations Center 0574 and 0374.
Following the repeal of the Title 10 USC combat aircraft restriction for female military aviators in 1993, Hire was the first female in the U.S. military assigned to a combat aircrew, reporting to Patrol Squadron Sixty-Two (VP-62) on May 13, 1993 as a Navigator/Communicator flying the P-3C Update III Orion
P-3 Orion
The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engine turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. Lockheed based it on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner. The aircraft is easily recognizable by its distinctive tail stinger or...
maritime patrol aircraft. VP-62 was also based at NAS Jacksonville and Hire routinely deployed for flight operations throughout the North Atlantic, Europe and the Caribbean.
Hire later served with Detachment 0482, Tactical Support Center 0682, U.S. Seventh Fleet Detachment 111, and U.S. Naval Forces Central Command Detachment 108. Recalled to full-time active military duty from 2001 to 2003, Hire supported Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
as a member of the Headquarters, U.S. Central Command Current Operations and Joint Operations Center (JOC) staffs at MacDill AFB, Florida during Operation Enduring Freedom, followed by reassignment to the U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command
United States Naval Forces Central Command is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command . Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea...
/U.S. Fifth Fleet staff for Operation Iraqi Freedom. She was promoted to her current rank of Captain in the U.S. Navy on December 1, 2002.
NASA experience
Hire began work at the Kennedy Space CenterKennedy Space Center
The John F. Kennedy Space Center is the NASA installation that has been the launch site for every United States human space flight since 1968. Although such flights are currently on hiatus, KSC continues to manage and operate unmanned rocket launch facilities for America's civilian space program...
in May 1989, first as an Orbiter Processing Facility 3 Activation Engineer and later as a Space Shuttle Orbiter Mechanical Systems Engineer for Lockheed
Lockheed Corporation
The Lockheed Corporation was an American aerospace company. Lockheed was founded in 1912 and later merged with Martin Marietta to form Lockheed Martin in 1995.-Origins:...
Space Operations Company. In 1991 she certified as a Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...
Test Project Engineer (TPE) and headed the checkout of the Extravehicular Mobility Unit
Extravehicular Mobility Unit
The Space Shuttle/International Space Station Extravehicular Mobility Unit is an independent anthropomorphic system that provides environmental protection, mobility, life support, and communications for a Space Shuttle or International Space Station crew member to perform extra-vehicular activity...
s (spacesuits) and Russian Orbiter Docking System. She was assigned as Supervisor of Space Shuttle Orbiter Mechanisms and Launch Pad Swing Arms in 1994.
Selected by NASA in December 1994, Hire reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. After a year of training, she worked in mission control as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM). Hire flew as Mission Specialist-2 on STS-90
STS-90
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 89.7 min-Mission highlights:...
Neurolab (1998) and logged over 381 hours in space. She served as the Astronaut Office Lead for Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
The Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory was a facility at Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas.It was the only facility in the Space Shuttle Program where actual orbiter hardware and flight software can be integrated and tested in a simulated flight environment...
(SAIL), Shuttle Payloads, and Flight Crew Equipment. Hire was assigned to the Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) team for Kennedy Space Center Operations. She then journeyed to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...
as a Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle mission STS-130
STS-130
STS-130 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . 's primary payloads were the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center, providing a 360-degree view around the station...
.
Space flight experience
STS-90STS-90
-Backup crew:-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter landing with payload: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 89.7 min-Mission highlights:...
Neurolab (April 17 – May 3, 1998). During the 16-day Spacelab
Spacelab
Spacelab was a reusable laboratory used on certain spaceflights flown by the Space Shuttle. The laboratory consisted of multiple components, including a pressurized module, an unpressurized carrier and other related hardware housed in the Shuttle's cargo bay...
flight, the seven-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia was the first spaceworthy Space Shuttle in NASA's orbital fleet. First launched on the STS-1 mission, the first of the Space Shuttle program, it completed 27 missions before being destroyed during re-entry on February 1, 2003 near the end of its 28th, STS-107. All seven crew...
served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 life science experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain
Brain
The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...
and nervous system
Nervous system
The nervous system is an organ system containing a network of specialized cells called neurons that coordinate the actions of an animal and transmit signals between different parts of its body. In most animals the nervous system consists of two parts, central and peripheral. The central nervous...
. The STS-90 flight orbited the Earth 256 times, and covered 6.3 million miles.
STS-130
STS-130
STS-130 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station . 's primary payloads were the Tranquility module and the Cupola, a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and another in the center, providing a 360-degree view around the station...
She also journeyed to the International Space Station as a Mission Specialist for Space Shuttle mission STS-130.