William Frederick Fisher
Encyclopedia
William Frederick Fisher is American
physician
and a former NASA
Astronaut
.
. He was married to a fellow astronaut, Dr. Anna Lee Fisher of St. Albans, New York in 1977. They have two daughters, Kristin Anne (b. July 29, 1983) and Kara Lynne (b.January 10, 1989).http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/persons/astronauts/e-to-h/FisherWF.txt .
The Drs. Fisher were divorced in 2000.
Dr. Fisher enjoys alpine skiing, water skiing, mountain climbing, flying, skydiving, camping, and most New Adventures. His favorite book is Robert Fagel's translation of Homer's Iliad. He loves opera, but prefers to listen rather than to attend. He appreciates most types of music, but with the exception of Eminem, dislikes Rap.
. He entered private practice in emergency medicine from 1977 to 1980, and was an Instructor in Emergency Medicine at the University of South Florida. He also attended graduate school at the University of Houston from 1978 to 1980, and received a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1980. He was accepted as a NASA Astronaut in 1980.
He has logged over 2,000 hours in prop, rotary-wing, jet aircraft and spacecraft.
; CAPCOM for STS-8 and STS-9
; Remote Manipulator System (RMS) hardware and software development team (1983); Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) development team (1983); Deputy Director of NASA Government-furnished and Contractor-furnished Equipment (1982–1983); Chief of Astronaut Public Appearances (1985–1987); Head, Astronaut Office Space Station Manned Systems Division, and Health Maintenance Facility (1987–1989); Astronaut Office representative on space crew selection and retention standards for Space Station (1989–1991).
Fisher also continued to practice Emergency Medicine in the greater Houston area in conjunction with his Astronaut duties.
Fisher was a mission specialist
on STS-51-I
, which launched from Kennedy Space Center
, Florida
, on August 27, 1985. STS-51-I was acknowledged as the most successful Space Shuttle
mission yet flown. The crew aboard Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Discovery
deployed three communications satellites, the Navy SYNCOM IV-4, the Australian AUSSAT, and American Satellite Company's ASC-1. They also performed a successful on-orbit rendezvous with the ailing 15,400 pound SYNCOM IV-3 satellite, and two EVAs (space walks) by Fisher and van Hoften to repair it, including the longest space walk in history. Discovery completed 112 orbits of the Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base
, California
, on September 3, 1985. Fisher logged over 170 hours in space, including 11 hours and 52 minutes of Extravehicular Activity (EVA).
Fisher left NASA in 1992 and is currently in the private practice of Emergency Medicine in Houston, Texas as well as an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
and a former 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....
.
Personal
Born April 1, 1946, in Dallas, TexasDallas, Texas
Dallas is the third-largest city in Texas and the ninth-largest in the United States. The Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex is the largest metropolitan area in the South and fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States...
. He was married to a fellow astronaut, Dr. Anna Lee Fisher of St. Albans, New York in 1977. They have two daughters, Kristin Anne (b. July 29, 1983) and Kara Lynne (b.January 10, 1989).http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/persons/astronauts/e-to-h/FisherWF.txt .
The Drs. Fisher were divorced in 2000.
Dr. Fisher enjoys alpine skiing, water skiing, mountain climbing, flying, skydiving, camping, and most New Adventures. His favorite book is Robert Fagel's translation of Homer's Iliad. He loves opera, but prefers to listen rather than to attend. He appreciates most types of music, but with the exception of Eminem, dislikes Rap.
Education
- 1964: Graduated from North Syracuse Central High School, North Syracuse, New YorkNorth Syracuse, New YorkNorth Syracuse is a village in Onondaga County, New York, United States. The population was 6,863 at the 2000 census.The Village of North Syracuse is partly in the Town of Cicero, but is primarily within the Town of Clay. North Syracuse is north of the City of Syracuse.- History :The village was...
- 1968: Received a Bachelor of Arts from Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
- 1969-1971: Performed graduate work in Biological Science at the University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
- 1975: Received a doctorate in Medicine from the University of FloridaUniversity of FloridaThe University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
- 1975-1977: Residency in General Surgery from UCLA Medical Center
- 1980: Received a Masters Degree in Engineering from the University of HoustonUniversity of HoustonThe University of Houston is a state research university, and is the flagship institution of the University of Houston System. Founded in 1927, it is Texas's third-largest university with nearly 40,000 students. Its campus spans 667 acres in southeast Houston, and was known as University of...
Organizations
- Diplomate of the American Board of Emergency Medicine
- Fellow of the American College of Emergency Physicians
- Fellow of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine
- Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine
- Fellow of the World Association of Astronauts and Cosmonauts
- Member, Wilderness Medical Society
- Honorary Member, The St. Andrew Society of Tokyo and Yokahama
- Board Member, Stanford on the Moon Project
Awards and honors
- American Astronautical Society Victor A. Prather Award for Outstanding Achievement in the field of Extravehicular Activity (1985)
- Federation Aeronautique Internationale V.M. Komarov Diploma for Outstanding Achievement in the Field of Exploration of Outer Space(1985)
- 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...
(1985) - NASA Exceptional Service MedalNASA Exceptional Service MedalThe NASA Exceptional Service Medal is an award granted to U.S. government employees for significant sustained performance characterized by unusual initiative or creative ability that clearly demonstrates substantial improvement in engineering, aeronautics, space flight, administration, support, or...
(1988). - Group Achievement Awards for EMU and MMU Development (1983)
- Group Achievement Awards for Payload Assist Module (PAM) Software Development and Vehicle Integration (1983)
- Named an ad hoc member of the U.S. Air Force Scientific Advisory Board (1986-1991)
- Appointed a member of the NASA Medicine Policy Board (1987-1991)
Career
Fisher was graduated from Stanford University in 1968, and later served as an Instructor in Mountaineering in Leysin, Switzerland. He attended medical school at the University of Florida, graduating in 1975. After medical school, Fisher completed a surgical residency from 1975 to 1977 at UCLA's Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, CaliforniaTorrance, California
Torrance is a city incorporated in 1921 and located in the South Bay region of Los Angeles County, California, United States. Torrance has of shore-front beaches on the Pacific Ocean, quieter and less well-known by tourists than others on the Santa Monica Bay, such as those of neighboring...
. He entered private practice in emergency medicine from 1977 to 1980, and was an Instructor in Emergency Medicine at the University of South Florida. He also attended graduate school at the University of Houston from 1978 to 1980, and received a Masters Degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1980. He was accepted as a NASA Astronaut in 1980.
He has logged over 2,000 hours in prop, rotary-wing, jet aircraft and spacecraft.
NASA career
Fisher was selected as NASA Astronaut in 1980. His technical assignments included: scientific equipment operator for high altitude research on the WB-57F aircraft (1980–1981); astronaut medical support for the first four Shuttle missions (1980–1982); astronaut office representative for Extravehicular Mobility Unit (spacesuit) and Extravehicular Activity (EVA) procedures and development, including thermal vacuum testing of the suit (1981–1984); astronaut office representative for the Payload Assist Module (PAM-D) procedures and development (1982–1983); astronaut office representative for Shuttle Mission Simulator (SMS) development (1983); support crewman for STS-8STS-8
STS-8 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission which launched on 30 August 1983 and landed on 5 September; it conducted the first night launch and night landing of the program, and flew the first African-American astronaut, Guion Bluford...
; CAPCOM for STS-8 and STS-9
STS-9
STS-9 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission which carried the first Spacelab module into orbit to conduct space-based scientific experiments. It was the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and was Columbia's last flight until STS-61-C in January 1986...
; Remote Manipulator System (RMS) hardware and software development team (1983); Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU) development team (1983); Deputy Director of NASA Government-furnished and Contractor-furnished Equipment (1982–1983); Chief of Astronaut Public Appearances (1985–1987); Head, Astronaut Office Space Station Manned Systems Division, and Health Maintenance Facility (1987–1989); Astronaut Office representative on space crew selection and retention standards for Space Station (1989–1991).
Fisher also continued to practice Emergency Medicine in the greater Houston area in conjunction with his Astronaut duties.
Fisher was a mission specialist
Mission Specialist
A Mission Specialist is a position held by certain NASA astronauts during Space Shuttle missions. A Mission Specialist is assigned to a limited field of the mission, such as for medical experiments or technical quests....
on STS-51-I
STS-51-I
STS-51-I was the twentieth mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the sixth flight of Space Shuttle Discovery. During the mission, Discovery deployed three communications satellites into orbit...
, which launched from Kennedy Space Center
Kennedy 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...
, 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...
, on August 27, 1985. STS-51-I was acknowledged as the most successful 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...
mission yet flown. The crew aboard Space Shuttle Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle Discovery is one of the retired orbiters of the Space Shuttle program of NASA, the space agency of the United States, and was operational from its maiden flight, STS-41-D on August 30, 1984, until its final landing during STS-133 on March 9, 2011...
deployed three communications satellites, the Navy SYNCOM IV-4, the Australian AUSSAT, and American Satellite Company's ASC-1. They also performed a successful on-orbit rendezvous with the ailing 15,400 pound SYNCOM IV-3 satellite, and two EVAs (space walks) by Fisher and van Hoften to repair it, including the longest space walk in history. Discovery completed 112 orbits of the Earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base
Edwards Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located on the border of Kern County, Los Angeles County, and San Bernardino County, California, in the Antelope Valley. It is southwest of the central business district of North Edwards, California and due east of Rosamond.It is named in...
, 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...
, on September 3, 1985. Fisher logged over 170 hours in space, including 11 hours and 52 minutes of Extravehicular Activity (EVA).
Fisher left NASA in 1992 and is currently in the private practice of Emergency Medicine in Houston, Texas as well as an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.