Astronaut Greg Johnson returns to Empire
From staff reports
Fresh off NASA’s final shuttle mission in May, veteran astronaut Greg Johnson will return to the Empire Township Hall on Friday, August 19, at 3:30 p.m. to discuss his career and what’s next for NASA and space exploration. This free event is sponsored by the Glen Lake Community Library and open to all.
Fifty-year-old Greg Johnson, whose sister Robin resides in Empire, lives with his wife Cari and their three children in Texas. Johnson graduated from the Air Force Academy in 1984, flew 34 combat missions in the first Gulf War. He joined NASA in 1998 and in 2007 was selected to pilot Endeavour on the STS-123 mission that launched in March 2008.
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 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.
Johnson also piloted STS-134 Endeavour (ISS assembly flight ULF6) (May 16 to June 1, 2011), the penultimate mission of NASA’s Space Shuttle Program. The mission marked the final flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour. During the 16-day mission, Endeavour delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS) and spare parts, including two S-band communications antennas, a high-pressure gas tank and additional spare parts for the Dextre robot. This was the 36th shuttle mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, Johnson was the lead robotic arm operator for both the space shuttle and ISS robotic arms; his duties included installation of the AMS and the Orbiter Boom Sensor System on the ISS, completing ISS assembly. The STS-134 mission included four spacewalks and was completed in 15 days, 17 hours, 38 minutes and 23 seconds, traveling 6,510,221 miles in 248 Earth orbits.
Johnson’s fellow crew member on the Endeavour, Mark Kelly, is the husband of Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who survived an assassination attempt in January.
Watch this interview with Greg Johnson following his last appearance in Empire:
