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

KATHRYN P. (KAY) Hire (CAPTAIN, U.S. Navy Reserve)
NASA ASTRONAUT

PERSONAL DATA:  Born in Mobile, Alabama, Hire enjoys competitive sailing, snow skiing, scuba diving, and fishing.

EDUCATION:  Murphy High School, Mobile, Alabama, 1977.  Bachelor of Science degree in engineering resources management from the U.S. Naval Academy, 1981.   Master of Science degree in space technology from Florida Institute of Technology, 1991.

ORGANIZATIONS:  Association of Space Explorers, Naval Aviation Foundation, U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, U.S. Sailing Association.

SPECIAL HONORS:  Defense Superior Service Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, National Defense Service Medal,  NASA Space Flight Medal.

EXPERIENCE:  Commissioned as a Naval Officer in 1981, Hire earned her Naval Flight Officer Wings in 1982.  She flew worldwide oceanographic research missions aboard specially configured P-3 Orion aircraft with Oceanographic Development Squadron Eight (VXN-8), then served as an instructor for student naval flight officers at the Naval Air Training Unit.  In 1989, Hire left full time naval ranks and joined the Navy Reserve at Jacksonville, Florida.  Her subsequent tours of duty included Squadron Augment Unit VP-0545 and Anti-submarine Warfare Operations Center 0574 and 0374.

On May 13, 1993, Hire, became the first female in the U. S. military to be assigned to a combat aircrew, when she reported to Patrol Squadron Sixty-Two (VP-62).  Flying aboard the P-3 maritime patrol aircraft, she participated in Atlantic and Caribbean operations.  Hire continued her Navy Reserve duty with USS Kitty Hawk 0482, Tactical Support Center 0682, Seventh Fleet 111, and U. S. Naval Central Command 108.  Recalled to active naval duty, she supported Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom as a member of U .S. Naval Central Command staff.  Hire later returned to reserve status and served as Commanding Officer of Navy Reserve Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) 1010 in Austin, Texas.  Her current Navy Reserve assignment with SPAWAR supports Integration and Interoperability Programs.

NASA EXPERIENCE:  Hire began work at the Kennedy Space Center in 1989, first as an Orbiter Processing Facility 3 Activation Engineer and later as a Space Shuttle Orbiter Mechanical Systems Engineer for Lockheed Space Operations Company.  In 1991, she certified as a Space Shuttle Test Project Engineer (TPE) and headed the checkout of the Extravehicular Mobility Units (spacesuits) and Russian Orbiter Docking System.  In 1994, she was assigned Supervisor of Space Shuttle Orbiter Mechanical Systems and Launch Pad Access Swing Arms.

Selected by NASA for astronaut training in December 1994, Hire reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995.  After a year of training, she initially worked in mission control as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM).  Since then she has served as the Astronaut Office Lead for Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), Shuttle Payloads, Flight Crew Equipment, the Astronaut Office Shuttle Branch, and the Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) team, traveling to Florida in support of crew operations conducted at the Kennedy Space Center.  Hire flew as Mission Specialist-2 on STS-90 Neurolab (1998) and logged over 381 hours in space.  She is assigned to the crew of STS-130, targeted for launch in December 2009.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: STS-90 Neurolab (April 17 – May 3, 1998). During the 16-day Spacelab flight, the seven-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia served as both experiment subjects and operators for 26 life science experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system.  The STS-90 flight orbited the Earth 256 times, and covered 6.3 million miles.