L. Blaine Hammond

  • STS -39 (1991)
  • STS -64 ( 1994)

Lloyd Blaine Hammond, Jr. ( born January 16, 1952 in Savannah, Georgia, USA ) is a former American astronaut.

Hammond received in 1973 a Bachelor in engineering science and mechanics from the United States Air Force Academy in 1974 and a master's degree in the same subject from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

In 1975 he graduated at the Reese Air Force Base in Texas from his pilot training. From 1976 to 1979 he was on the Hahn Air Base in Germany to 1980 then stationed pilot instructor at the Williams Air Force Base in Arizona. In 1981 he attended the Empire Test Pilots' School in the UK. From 1982 he was a pilot instructor at the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

Astronauts activity

Hammond was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in May 1984. After training as a shuttle pilot, he worked as a speaker connection ( CAPCOM ), helped with the launch preparations at Kennedy Space Center, he developed and tested new software and hardware for the Space Shuttle.

After his two space flights, he became head of the flight support and lead CAPCOM. Subsequently, he was a security department head of the Astronaut Office responsible for the safety of T-38 aircraft, the space shuttles and the International Space Station (ISS ).

STS -39

On April 28, 1991 Hammond began as a pilot of the space shuttle Discovery into space. STS -39 was the first non-secret shuttle mission of the U.S. Department of Defense. For this mission, only the MPEC experiment was classified as secret. Furthermore, were studied southern auroras, conducted various experiments and exposed several small satellites.

STS -64

His second flight took Hammond in September 1994 as a pilot of the space shuttle Discovery. As part of STS- 64, the laser optical radar system LITE were tested. A further object was the launching and recovering of astronomical research satellites SPARTAN -201, a free- flying satellites to investigate the solar wind and the solar corona. After eleven days in space, he landed on 20 September 1994 at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

According to the NASA

Currently, Hammond worked as a test pilot for the aircraft Gulfstream.

Private

Blaine Hammond is married and has one child.

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