National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center Houston, Texas 77058
Biographical Data

John L. Phillips (Ph.D.)
NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA: Born April 15, 1951 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, but considers Scottsdale, Arizona to be his hometown. Married to the former Laura Jean Doell of Scotia, New York. They have two children. Enjoys skiing, swimming, kayaking, hiking, and family recreation.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Scottsdale High School, Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1966; received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and Russian from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972; a master of science degree in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1974; a master of science degree and a doctorate in geophysics and space physics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1984 and 1987 respectively.

SPECIAL HONORS: National Merit Scholar; graduated second of 906 in the class of 1972 at U.S. Naval Academy; awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal, NASA Distinguished Service Medal, the Gagarin Medal, the Komarov Diploma, the Los Alamos National Laboratory Distinguished Performance Award, and various military awards.

EXPERIENCE: Phillips received a navy commission upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972 and was designated a Naval Aviator in November 1974. He trained in the A-7 Corsair Aircraft and made overseas deployments with Attack Squadron 155 aboard the USS Oriskany and USS Roosevelt. Subsequent tours of duty included navy recruiting in Albany, New York, and flying the CT-39 Sabreliner Aircraft at Naval Air Station North Island, California.

After leaving the Navy in 1982, Phillips enrolled as a graduate student at UCLA. While at UCLA he carried out research involving observations by the NASA Pioneer Venus Spacecraft. Upon completing his doctorate in 1987, he was awarded an Oppenheimer Postdoctoral Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. He accepted a career position at Los Alamos in 1989. While there, Phillips performed research on the sun and the space environment. From 1993 through 1996 he was Principal Investigator for the Solar Wind Plasma Experiment aboard the Ulysses Spacecraft as it executed a unique trajectory over the poles of the sun. He has authored 156 scientific papers dealing with the plasma environments of the sun, earth, other planets, comets and spacecraft.

Phillips has logged over 4,400 flight hours and 250 carrier landings. He served as a Navy reservist from 1982 to 2002, as an A-7 pilot and in various non-flying assignments. He retired in 2002 with the rank of Captain, USNR.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected by NASA in April 1996, Phillips reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996. After completing astronaut candidate training, he held various jobs in the Astronaut Office, including systems engineering and CAPCOM for the International Space Station, as well as the Robotics Branch of the Astronaut Office, supporting robotic operations on present and future missions. .He flew aboard STS-100 in 2001, logging nearly 12 days and 5 million miles in space. He served as a backup to ISS Expedition-7, completing that assignment in February 2003. He served a six-month tour of duty aboard the International Space Station in 2005. Twice flown, Phillips has logged over 190 days in space. He is currently assigned as a mission specialist on the STS-119 mission, targeted for launch in the winter of 2008. The flight will deliver the final pair of power-generating solar array wings and truss element to the International Space Station.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-100 Endeavour (April 19 to May 1, 2001). During the 12-day, 187 orbit mission, the crew successfully delivered and installed the Canadarm-2 Robotic Arm. They also delivered experiments and supplies aboard the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello on its maiden flight. Phillips was the Ascent/Entry Flight engineer and was the intravehicular activity coordinator during two space walks.

Phillips was the NASA Science Officer and Flight Engineer on ISS Expedition-11 which launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 14, 2005 aboard Soyuz TMA-6 and docked with the ISS on April 16, 2005. During their six-month stay aboard the station the crew continued station maintenance, worked with scientific experiments, performed a spacewalk in Russian spacesuits from the Pirs Airlock, and hosted the “return to flight” visit of the Space Shuttle Discovery ( STS-114). The Expedition-11 crew landed in Kazakhstan on October 10, 2005. In completing his second mission Phillips logged 179 days and 23 minutes in space including an EVA totaling 4 hours and 58 minutes.

MARCH 2008