Fresno State Alumnus Rick Husband
is astronaut on Discovery shuttle

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by Tom Uribes

NASA's Discovery space shuttle mission returned to Earth on Sunday, June 6, with a little bit of Fresno State inside.

The crew's pilot, Rick Husband, earned a master of science in engineering, with an option in mechanical engineering, through the university's Edwards Air Force Base program.

Husband earned his graduate degree in 1990, said Jim Smolka, director of the Fresno State master of science in engineering program at Edwards AFB.

Discovery, with its seven-member crew, was launched May 27 for a 10-day mission to haul about 4,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the International Space Station that will be used by the first residents of the outpost when they arrive next year.

Discovery's mission was Husband's first shuttle flight, said Commander Kent V. Rominger.

But even though it was his first flight, Rominger said Husband had his hands full.

"Not only was he doing all the normal pilot stuff with ascent and entry that goes along with flying Discovery, but he had an active part in our rendezvous," Rominger said. "He's doing the flyaround after the undock. He's a backup EVA crewmember, he's a backup arm operator. So he really was pretty much a jack-of-all-trades on the flight and stayed very busy."

Husband, 41, is from Amarillo, Texas, and received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1980. After graduation, Husband was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force.

In December 1987 he was assigned to Edwards AFB in Kern County, where he attended the USAF Test Pilot School. Husband served as a test pilot for the F-4 and all five models of the F-15.

NASA selected Husband as an astronaut candidate in December 1994. He was named the astronaut office representative for Advanced Projects at Johnson Space Center, where he works on space shuttle upgrades and studies the Crew Return Vehicle (CRV) for future moon trips and Mars travel.