Tanner, Joseph Richard

Joseph Tanner was born on January 21, 1950 in a family of doctors, Bill and Megan Tanner, in the city ​​of Danville ( Illinois , USA ). In the same place in 1968 he graduated from high school. He took an active part in the Boy Scouts of America movement and reached the Scout Eagle level. In 1973, received a bachelor 's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois ^[1] .

Has a twin brother. Married to Martha A. Carrie, they have two children. He loves swimming, camping, climbing and spending time with his family.

Tanner went to the Navy after graduating from the University of Illinois in 1973. In 1975, he graduated from the school of pilots of the Navy, was assigned to the Coral Sea aircraft carrier , where he flew on A-7 aircraft. He completed his active career as an instructor pilot at Pensacola Air Base in Florida . Joe continued to fly the A-7, while in the Navy reserve, constantly trying to transfer to NASA . It has a flight time of more than 7500 hours on various types of NASA military aircraft and aircraft ^[2] .

In 1984, Tanner transferred to NASA , the Johnson Space Research Center , in Houston , Texas . Here he became an aerospace and research pilot-engineer. His main task was to fly and train shuttle astronauts in landing technology on a T-38 Talon training aircraft . In March 1992, he was enrolled in the NASA squad as part of the fourteenth set , a candidate for astronauts . He began to study at the course of General Space Training (OKP). At the end of the course, in August 1993 he received the qualification of “flight specialist” and was appointed to the NASA Astronaut Office . One year, he worked at the Shuttle Electronic Equipment Laboratory, awaiting his first space flight. Tanner also worked in an astronaut support group at the Johnson Space Research Center in Houston , Texas , at launch and landing.

• The first flight is STS-66 ^[3] , the Atlantis shuttle . From November 3 to November 14, 1994 as a “flight specialist”. The main tasks of the STS-66 mission include environmental research. The ATLAS-03 ( Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Sciences , 3rd flight of the laboratory) was installed on the shuttle. The laboratory instruments carried out a global measurement of temperatures in the mesosphere and concentrations of small impurities, studying the interaction of solar radiation with individual chemical components in the thermosphere . An important addition to the laboratory data was the results of a study of the lower and middle thermosphere by instruments of the CRISTA-SPAS detachable satellite. The flight duration was 9 days 19 hours 23 minutes ^[4] .

• The second flight - STS-82 ^[5] , the Shuttle Discovery . From February 11 to February 21, 1997 as a “flight specialist”. The purpose of the second flight to the telescope is to conduct maintenance and replace scientific instruments at the Hubble Space Telescope ^[6] . He performed two spacewalks: February 15, 1997 - lasting 7 hours 27 minutes and February 17 - 6 hours 34 minutes. The flight duration was 9 days 23 hours 38 minutes ^[7] .

• The third flight is STS-97 ^[8] , the Endeavor shuttle . From December 1 to December 11, 2000 as a “flight specialist”. The main objective was the delivery to the International Space Station (ISS) of the P6 module with two solar panels with a total capacity of up to 64 kW ^[9] . He made three spacewalks: December 3, 2000 - 7 hours 33 minutes, ensuring the transfer and docking of section P6 . December 5 - 6 hours 37 minutes, cabling between P6 and Z1 , moving the SASA antenna assembly. December 7 - 5 hours 10 minutes, pulling up the SB panels, installing appliances. The flight duration was 10 days 19 hours 58 minutes ^[10] .

• The fourth flight - STS-115 ^[11] , the shuttle Atlantis . From September 9 to September 21, 2006 as a “flight specialist”. The second mission after the more than three-year break caused by the crash of the shuttle Columbia on the further construction of the International Space Station . The main purpose of the flight is the delivery and installation of the continuation of the left segment of the ISS truss structures - farms P3 and P4, a pair of solar panels (2A and 4A) and storage batteries serving them. This significantly increased the amount of electricity for conducting scientific experiments at the station. He performed two spacewalks: September 12, 2006 - lasting 6 hours 26 minutes, new truss segments P3 / P4 were installed, connected to segment P1. After the deployment of new solar panels, the total power supply of the station doubled. September 15 - 6 hours 42 minutes, Tanner and Piper installed power and communication cables between the P1 and P3 / P4 segments, removed the transport harness from the solar unit. The astronauts worked very quickly, so that the ground-based Flight Control Center allowed them to perform some tasks provided for the next spacewalk. The only incident that occurred during the VVD was the loss of the washer, mounting bolt and spring lost by Tanner and flying into outer space. NASA said that due to the direction in which the missed objects flew, their lifetime in orbit will be short and they will not pose a threat to the ISS or other spacecraft. The flight duration was 11 days 19 hours 7 minutes ^[12] .

The total duration of extra-ship activity (ACV) for 7 exits is 46 hours 29 minutes. The total duration of space flights is 43 days 13 hours 16 minutes.

In September 2008, Tanner entered the University of Colorado in Boulder , the faculty of aerospace engineering, a senior lecturer. He assists senior students in their design and graduation work.

Awarded: Medal "For Space Flight" (1994, 1997, 2000 and 2006), Medal "For Exceptional Merit" and many others.

• List of astronauts and astronauts (and candidates) .
• List of US astronauts - participants in orbiting space flights .
• Timeline of manned spaceflight .

• Biography of Joseph R. Tanner