| Gregory H. JOHNSON |
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Greg è nato il 12 maggio del 1962 a South Ruislip nel Middlesex ed ha studiato alla Park Hills High School di Fairborn in Ohio, alla Aeronautical Engineering U.S. Air Force Academy, alla Flight Structure Engineering Columbia University ed alla University of Texas.
Pilota nell'Air Force Base di Reese nel Texas fin dal 1986 ha maturato oltre 4.000 ore di volo su 40 differenti aeromobili e vive nella cittadina texana di League City.
Selezionato dalla NASA nel 1998, nel 2008 ha completato la sua prima missione spaziale facendo 250 orbite intorno alla Terra in poco meno di 16 giorni ed ha terminato il programma spaziale degli Shuttle nel 2011 dopo essere andato in pensione con il grado di colonnello dell'aeronautica.
Greg ha imparato il bridge dai suoi parenti ma ha cominciato a giocare seriamente solo dal 1998, quando gli è capitata tra le mani una copia del Bridge Bulletin che ha letteralmente divorato.
Nonostante il poco tempo che gli lascia la sua intensa attività professionale, dal 2002 è un Life Master dell'ACBL.
Gregory H. Johnson (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) NASA Astronaut
Personal Data: Born on May 12, 1962 in South Ruislip, Middlesex, United Kingdom. Married to the former Cari M. Harbaugh of Lubbock, Texas. They have three children: Matthew, Joseph and Rachel. Recreational interests include traveling, biking, golfing, music, duplicate bridge, and woodworking.
Johnson now lives in League City TX, between Houston and Galveston, and works at NASA in the Houston suburb of Clear Lake.
He has taken playing cards with him on two shuttle flights – the first being an ace of spades that is now in the Museum of Bridge at ACBL Headquarters in Horn Lake MS.
On his latest shuttle flight, Johnson tried unsuccessfully to arrange a bridge game from space with Jay Baum, ACBL’s chief executive officer.
He did manage a phone call to Baum from space but the Internet hookup didn’t work.
Education:
Park Hills High School, Fairborn, Ohio, 1980.
B.S., Aeronautical Engineering, U.S. Air Force Academy, 1984.
M.S., Flight Structures Engineering, Columbia University, 1985.
M.B.A., University of Texas (Austin), 2005.
Special Honors: 2005 Top Fox Safety Award, 2005 Dean’s Award for Academic Excellence – McCombs School of Business, NASA Superior Performance Award, 1996 Lieutenant General Bobby Bond Award – Top USAF test pilot, Distinguished Graduate USAF Test Pilot School Class 94A, Onizuka Award Class 94A, 1985 Guggenheim Fellow to Columbia University, 1984 Distinguished Graduate with Honors – USAF Academy, 1980 Valedictorian : Park Hills High School, Eagle Scout. Military decorations: Distinguished Flying Cross, Meritorious Service Medals (2), Air Medals (4), Aerial Achievement Medals (3), USAF Commendation Medal, USAF Achievement Medals (2).
Military Experience: A USAF Academy graduate in May 1984, Johnson was designated an Air Force pilot in May 1986 at Reese AFB, Texas. He was retained as a T-38A instructor pilot at Reese until 1989. Johnson was next selected as an F-15E Eagle pilot in the 335th Fighter Squadron, at Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina. In December 1990, Johnson deployed to Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia, flying 34 combat missions in support of Operation Desert Storm. In December 1992, he was again deployed to Saudi Arabia for three months, flying an additional 27 combat missions in support of Operation Southern Watch. In 1993, he completed Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. After graduation in 1994, he was assigned to the 445th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards, where he flew and tested F-15C/E, NF-15B, and T-38A/B aircraft. In August 1997, he was assigned to Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, to attend Air Command and Staff College.
He logged over 4,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft. Johnson retired from the Air Force on February 1, 2009.
NASA Eperience: Selected by NASA in June 1998, he reported for training in August 1998. After two years of initial astronaut training, Johnson was assigned to the Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade council – redesigning cockpit displays for future Space Shuttle missions. In addition, Johnson has held positions direct supporting to the crews of STS-100 and STS-108, chief of shuttle abort planning, and ascent procedure development. Johnson was a key player on several “tiger teams” including the External Tank (ET) foam impact test team investigating the cause of the Columbia accident in 2003; they proved that ET foam debris on ascent could critically damage the shuttle’s leading edge thermal protection system. Over the next five years, Johnson became the Deputy Chief and ultimately the Chief of the Astronaut Safety Branch, focusing on all aspects of Space Shuttle, ISS, and T-38 safety. In early 2007, Johnson was selected to pilot Endeavour on the STS-123 mission that launched in March 2008. After he returned from the flight, Johnson served as a CAPCOM for STS-126, STS-119, STS-125, and STS-127. Johnson’s position as the astronaut Safety Branch Chief continues to the present.
Johnson will be pilot of STS-134 next year. This mission will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a state-of-the-art cosmic ray particle physics detector designed to examine fundamental issues about matter and the origin of the universe.
Space Flight Expereince: Johnson was pilot of STS-123 Endeavour (March 11-26, 2008), the 25th Shuttle/Station assembly mission. Endeavour’s crew delivered the Japanese Experiment Logistics Module – Pressurized Section, the first pressurized component of JAXA’s Kibo Laboratory, and the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System, the Canadian-built Dextre, also known as the Special Purpose Dextrous Manipulator. In addition to pilot duties aboard Endeavour, Johnson was a primary robotic arm operator, employing both the Space Shuttle and ISS robotic arms in support of numerous tasks throughout the mission. The STS-123 crew performed a record five spacewalks while docked to the station. The crew also delivered Expedition 16 Flight Engineer Garrett Reisman, and returned to Earth with ESA’s Léopold Eyharts. The mission was accomplished in 250 orbits of the Earth, traveling over 6 million miles in 15 days, 18 hours, and 10 minutes.
He will hang it up at NASA, where he has continued to work, piloting the final mission of the Shuttle Endeavor in 2011.
Bridge Experience: Greg has learned bridge from his parents but did not start playing seriously only since 1998, when it happened in his hands a copy of the Bridge Bulletin, which has literally devoured.
Despite the short time he leaves his busy professional career, since 2002 is a Life Master dell'ACBL.
Now that he is in a transitional phase with the end of NASA’s shuttle program, Johnson said he hopes to be able to play a lot more bridge. He particularly enjoys the NABCs.
