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GREGORY ERROL CHAMITOFF (PH.D.)
NASA ASTRONAUT (MISSION SPECIALIST)
PERSONAL DATA: Born August 6, 1962 in Montreal, Canada. Has lived in the U.S. since 1974, and considers San Jose, California, to be his hometown. He is married to A. Chantal Caviness, M.D., of Boston, Massachusetts. His mother, Shari J. Chamitoff, resides in Brentwood, California. His father, Ashley M. Chamitoff, is deceased. Her parents are Madeline Caviness, Ph.D., and Verne Caviness, M.D., of Boston, Massachusetts. Recreational interests include scuba diving, flying, backpacking, skiing, racquetball, aikido, and guitar.
EDUCATION:
Blackford High School, San Jose, California, 1980.
B.S., Electrical Engineering, California Polytechnic State University, 1984.
M.S., Aeronautical Engineering, California Institute of Technology, 1985.
Ph.D., Aeronautics and Astronautics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1992.
M.S., Planetary Geology (Space Science), University of Houston Clear Lake, 2002.
ORGANIZATIONS: American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (AIAA), Institute of Electrical & Electronic Engineers (IEEE), Aircraft Owners and Pilot’s Association (AOPA), The Mars Society, National Space Society (NSS), Eta Kappa Nu Honor Society, Tau Beta Pi Engineering Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society.
HONORS: AIAA Associate Fellow (2002); AIAA Technical Excellence Award (1998); NASA Silver Snoopy Award (1997); NASA/USA Space Flight Awareness Award (1997); C.S. Draper Laboratory Graduate Fellowship (1985-92); IEEE Graduate Fellowship (1985); Tau Beta Pi Fellowship (1984); Applied Magnetics Scholarships (1982, 83, 84); Academic Excellence Award (Cal Poly, 1984); Most Outstanding Senior Award (Cal Poly, 1984); President’s Honor List (Cal Poly, 1981-84); Degree of Excellence and California Statewide Speech Finalist (National Forensic League, 1980); Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America, 1980).
EXPERIENCE: As an electrical engineering student at Cal Poly, Chamitoff taught lab courses in analog and digital circuit design. He also worked as a student engineer at Four Phase Systems, Atari, Northern Telecom, and IBM. His undergraduate thesis was on the development and construction of a self-guided robot. While at MIT and Draper Labs (1985-91) Chamitoff worked on a variety of NASA projects. He performed stability analyses of Shuttle attitude control for the first Hubble Space Telescope mission, designed flight control upgrades for the Space Shuttle autopilot, and developed models for trajectory optimization of the National Aerospace Plane. In his doctoral thesis, Chamitoff developed a new robust intelligent flight control approach for hypersonic single-stage-to-orbit launch vehicles. After graduation, he remained at Draper Labs on a team that developed the attitude control system for Space Station Freedom. From 1993 to 1995, Chamitoff was a visiting professor at the University of Sydney, Australia. There he led a research group in the development of autonomous flight vehicles, while teaching courses in flight dynamics and automatic control theory. In 1995, Chamitoff joined the Motion Control Systems group in Mission Operations at the Johnson Space Center. In that position, he led the development of several applications for the automation of spacecraft attitude control monitoring, prediction, analysis, and maneuver optimization. Chamitoff has published numerous papers on aircraft and spacecraft guidance and control, trajectory optimization, and Mars mission design.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in June 1998, he reported for training in August 1998. Astronaut Candidate Training includes orientation briefings and tours, numerous scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, physiological training and ground school to prepare for T-38 flight training, as well as learning water and wilderness survival techniques. Chamitoff is currently assigned as a Crew Support Astronaut for the International Space Station. In this role he provides ground support to the crew on technical and personal matters, while serving as Space Station Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center. He will serve in technical assignments until assigned to a space flight.
FEBRUARY 2004
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