Who is Mike Mullane?

Born on September 10, 1945, in Wichita Falls, Texas, Richard Michael Mullane's father, Hugh, was serving in the Pacific War on a B-17 flight. Due to his father's polio diagnosis, the family relocated to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Mullane earned a Bachelor of Science degree in military engineering from the United States Military Academy in 1967 and a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from U.S. Air Institute of Technology in 5.

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Colonel Mullane graduated from West Point in 1967 and served in Vietnam as an RF-4C weapon systems officer stationed at Tan Son Nhut Air Base from January to November 1969. He completed 134 combat missions during his service. Following his tour in Vietnam, he served in England for four years. In July 1976, he completed the USAF Flight Test Engineer Course at Edwards Air Force Base, California, and was then as a flight test weapon systems officer to the 3246th Test Wing at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

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NASA Career ​​

Michael Mullane was selected by NASA in January 1978 and joined the astronaut program in August 1979. He participated in three Space Shuttle missions, serving as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-41-D in August 1984, on STS-27 in December 1988, and on ST-36 in March 1990.

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​Mullane's first mission was as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-41-D, which launched from Kennedy Space Center Florida in August 1984. The mission was the maiden flight of the Orbiter Discovery and lasted seven days. During this time, the crew successfully completed several experiments, including activating the OAST-1 solar cell wing experiment, deploying three satellites, operating the CFES-III experiment, the student crystal growth experiment, and photography experiments using the IMAX motion picture camera. STS 41-D completed 96 orbits of the Earth in 145 hours before landing at Edwards Force Base, California on September 5, 1984.

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​Mullane was assigned to STS-62-A, which was supposed to be the first Shuttle mission to launch from Vandenberg Air Force Base. Unfortunately, the mission was canceled after the Challenger disaster. However, he later flew aboard the Orbiter Atlantis on STS-27, which carried a Department of Defense payload and several secondary payloads. The mission lasted for 105 hours and concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on December 6, 1988. Notably, Atlantis sustained severe damage to its critical heat-resistant tiles during ascent.

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​During his third flight, Mullane was part of the crew for STS-36, which took off from the Kennedy Space Center in on February 28 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The mission focused on carrying DOD payloads and several secondary payloads. After completing 72 orbits around the earth, the STS-36 mission ended with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California on March4, 1990.

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​After his third flight, Mullane's total time spent in space amounted to 356 hours. He retired from both NASA and the Air Force on July 1, 1990.