Richard N. Richards
| Richard N. Richards | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Retired |
| Born |
August 24, 1946 Key West, Florida, U.S. |
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Other names
|
Richard Noel Richards |
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Other occupation
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Naval aviator, test pilot |
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MU, B.S. 1969 West Florida, M.S. 1970 |
|
| Rank | Captain, USN |
|
Time in space
|
33d 21h 29m |
| Selection | 1980 NASA Group 9 |
| Missions | STS-28, STS-41, STS-50, STS-64 |
|
Mission insignia
|
   
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| Retirement | April 1995 |
| Awards |  |
Richard Noel "Dick" Richards (born August 24, 1946), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is a retired American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, chemical engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. He flew aboard four Space Shuttle missions in the 1980s and 1990s.
He was born on August 24, 1946, in Key West, Florida, but considers Houston, Texas to be his hometown. Married to the former Lois Hollabaugh of Amarillo, Texas. He graduated from Riverview Gardens High School in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1964. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Missouri in 1969, and a Master of Science degree in Aeronautical Systems from the University of West Florida in 1970. While at the University of Missouri, he became a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity.
Richards was commissioned as an Ensign in the United States Navy upon graduating from the University of Missouri in 1969 and was designated a Naval Aviator in August of the following year. From 1970 to 1973, he flew support missions in the A-4 Skyhawk and F-4 Phantom airplanes while assigned to Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 33 (VAQ-33) at Norfolk Naval Air Station, Virginia. He subsequently reported to Fighter Squadron 103 (VF-103), and deployed to the North Atlantic and Mediterranean aboard the aircraft carriers USS America and USS Saratoga, flying F-4 airplanes. Selected for test pilot training, he reported to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland in 1976. A tour in the Naval Air Test Center's Carrier Systems Branch and F/A-18A Program Office of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate followed Test Pilot School graduation. Over the next 3-1/2 years, Richards served as a project test pilot for automatic carrier landing systems development work in F-4 and A-7 aircraft and also conducted approach/landing/catapult flying qualities and catapult minimum end speed performance testing of a prototype "slatted" F-4S airplane. As carrier suitability project officer for the F/A-18A Hornet airplane, he made the first shipboard catapults and arrested landings during Initial Sea Trials of the F/A-18A on board USS America in 1979. He was reassigned to Fighter Squadron 33 (VF-33) in May 1980 and was en route to that assignment when notified of his selection as an astronaut candidate.
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