Gibson, Robert Lee

Born October 30, 1946 in Cooperstone, New York, but he considers Lakewood in Long Beach , California to be his hometown. In 17 years, received a license as an amateur pilot. In 1964 he graduated from high school in the city of Huntington , New York . In 1966 he graduated from Suffolk College of the county (district) in the state of New York, and received a diploma of junior specialist in technical sciences. In 1969, he graduated from California Polytechnic University and received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering ^[1] .

In the service in the US Navy since 1969. He underwent initial flight training at Sufu Field and Pensacola airbases in Florida and an air base near the city of Meridian in the state of Mississippi , served at the Miramar air base, near the city of San Diego , California , and flew the F-4 Phantom II . Retrained at Kingsville Air Base in Texas . From April 1972 to September 1975, he served in the 111th Fighter Squadron, took part in operations in Vietnam from the aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) and USS Enterprise (CVN-65) . He graduated from the School on the combat use of navy fighters "Topgan", after which he served as an F-14A flight instructor in the 124th Fighter Squadron. In June 1977, he graduated from the US Naval Test Pilot School at the Patuxent River Air Base in Maryland . Licensed as a pilot of transport aviation and multi-engine aircraft, has a certificate for the right to fly by instruments. In 1991, he set a world record in the category “Horizontal Flight Altitude” for C1A class aircraft; in 1994, he set a record in the category “Lifting speed to an altitude of 9000 km”. He retired in November 1996 with the rank of captain of the US Navy ^[2] .

January 16, 1978 enlisted in the NASA astronaut detachment during the 8th set . Passed a course of general space training (GST), and in August 1979 he was enrolled in the Astronaut Division as a shuttle pilot. From December 1992 to September 1994, he headed the NASA Astronaut Division. In March - November 1996, he was Deputy Director of the Flight Crew Division.

• First flight - STS-41B ^[3] , Shuttle Challenger . From 3 to 11 February 1984 as a pilot. The flight duration was 7 days 23 hours 17 minutes ^[4] .

• The second flight is STS-61C ^[5] , the shuttle Columbia . From 12 to 18 January 1986 as commander of the ship. The flight duration was 6 days 2 hours 5 minutes ^[6] .

• The third flight - STS-27 ^[7] , shuttle Atlantis . From 2 to 6 December 1988 as commander of the ship. The flight duration was 4 days 9 hours 6 minutes ^[8] .

• The fourth flight - STS-47 ^[9] , shuttle " Endeavor ". From 12 to 20 September 1992 as commander of the ship. The flight duration was 7 days 22 hours 31 minutes ^[10] .

• Fifth flight - STS-71 ^[11] , shuttle Atlantis . From June 27 to July 7, 1995 as a ship commander. The flight duration was 9 days 19 hours 23 minutes ^[12] .

The total duration of flights into space is 36 days 4 hours 23 minutes. Resigned from the astronaut in November 1996.

Then he served in the Directorate of the test of aircraft assault aircraft in the Flight Test Center of the Navy, was engaged in testing and certification of aircraft F-14A. Resigned in November 1996. Since December 1996 he has been engaged in private business. He is a member of the board of directors of Space Adventures. In 2010, with the assistance of the Academy of Aeronautics Samples, he created the organization US National Air Models, named after him. The basic idea is to increase interest among young people and encourage their interest in aviation by creating flying samples with radio control. Gibson stated that his interest in manned flights and his career as a test pilot and astronaut encouraged him to produce model airplanes for young people. Gibson remains an energetic model man, passionate about his hobby, reportedly building an experimental flying radio-controlled version of the aircraft with a vertical takeoff and landing of the Convair XFY Pogo.

Awarded: International Aviation Federation: Lewis Bliriot Medal (1991 and 2004), Y.A. Gagarin Gold Medal of the International Aviation Federation , Award from the University of Nebraska in Omaha , Medal “For Excellent Service” (USA) , Flight Merit Cross (USA) , Air Medal (USA) (three times), Medal for National Defense Service (USA) (twice), Medal "For Service in Vietnam" , Vietnamese Campaign Medal , Medal "For Space Flight" , his name entered into the Astronaut Hall of Fame (2003 ).

Gibson has relatives: three brothers - John, Don, Richard and sister Katie.

Wife - Margaret Rea Seddon , NASA astronaut . They have four children. Hobbies: air races in the Formula 1 format, the creation of self-made airplanes and running.

• List of astronauts and astronauts (and candidates) .
• List of US astronauts - participants in orbital space flight .
• Chronology of manned space flight .

• Spacefacts biography of Robert L. Gibson
• Robert L. "Hoot" Gibson Oral History (English) . historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov. The appeal date is April 25, 2019.