Bidspirit auction | Astronaut Jim Newman NSTL Space

Astronaut Jim Newman NSTL Space Shuttle Main Engine FDC PM Pearlington, MS Apr 18 PM 1983 39572. Missions STS-51-G STS-66 STS-88 STS-109. After graduating from Rice University in 1984, Newman did an additional year of post-doctoral work at Rice. His research interests are in atomic and molecular physics, specifically medium to low energy collisions of atoms and molecules of aeronomic interest. His doctoral work at Rice University was in the design, construction, testing, and use of a new position-sensitive detection system for measuring differential cross sections of collisions of atoms and molecules. In 1985, Dr. Newman was appointed as adjunct professor in the Department of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice University. That same year he came to work at NASA's Johnson Space Center, where his duties included responsibility for conducting flight crew and flight control team training for all mission phases in the areas of Orbiter propulsion, guidance, and control. He was working as a simulation supervisor when selected for the astronaut program. In that capacity, he was responsible for a team of instructors conducting flight controller training. Selected by NASA in January 1990, Newman began astronaut training in July 1990. His technical assignments since then include: Astronaut Office Mission Support Branch where he was part of a team responsible for crew ingress/strap-in prior to launch and crew egress after landing; Mission Development Branch working on the Shuttle on-board laptop computers; Chief of the Computer Support Branch in the Astronaut Office, responsible for crew involvement in the development and use of computers on the Space Shuttle and Space Station. Detailed to the Space Shuttle Program Office in March 1999 for a two-year tour of duty, Newman served as the RMS Integration Manager responsible for the Orbiter robotic arm and the Space Vision System. He flew as a mission specialist on STS-51 (1993), STS-69 (1995), STS-88 (1998) and STS-109 (2002). A veteran of four space flights, Dr. Newman has logged over 43 days in space, including six spacewalks totaling 43 hours and 13 minutes. If Dr. Newman could do it all over again, he really wishes he could fly on an ISS Expedition like fellow astronaut classmate Dan Bursch.