Charles Camarda
- STS- 114 (2005)
Charles Joseph "Charlie" Camarda ( born May 8, 1952 in Queens, New York City ) is an American astronaut.
Life
Camarda attended until 1970 the Archbishop Molloy High School in Jamaica in New York City's Queens.
After Camarda in 1974 earned a bachelor's degree in aeronautics and aerospace engineering at the Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn, he worked as a scientist at the NASA Langley Research Center in Hampton ( Virginia). There he was responsible for the development of the cooling system for the Space Shuttle in a responsible position, which was then in the planning stage. During this time he also earned a master's degree in 1980 in engineering at the George Washington University.
As of 1989, Camarda department manager in materials research for the Rockwell X-30, a planned missile which should reach Earth orbit with only one drive level. At the Virginia Tech doctorate Camarda, 1990 in space technology.
In 1994, Camarda was appointed head of the Thermal Structures Branch, which specializes primarily on high-speed research and concepts for reusable launch vehicles.
Astronauts activity
Camarda applied at NASA as an astronaut and was adopted in 1996 for the 16th NASA astronaut group. His first nomination was as a substitute for the ISS Expedition 8, the start took place in October 2003 with Soyuz TMA -3.
His first spaceflight graduated from Charles Camarda from July 26 to August 9, 2005 with the Space Shuttle Discovery during mission STS- 114. These were for the first flight after the crash of the Columbia.
Within the NASA Camarda became the Director, Engineering and transported in this function is also a member of the mission management team for the next space flight STS- 121. Due to internal differences but was in June 2006, removed a week before the start, these functions and added to the NASA Engineering and Safety Center ( NESC ).
Camarda holds seven patents on several inventions, among other things, a " heat pipe cooled Sandwich Panel" at NASA. He is married to his second wife and has four children and stepchildren.