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Dr. Donald A. Thomas, Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.,
is a NASA astronaut.

==Personal data==
Born May 6, 1955, in Cleveland, Ohio. Married to
the former Simone Lehmann of Göppingen, Germany.
They have one son. He enjoys swimming, biking,
camping, flying. His mother, Mrs. Irene M. Thomas,
resides in Bloomington, Indiana. Her parents,
Margrit and Gerhard Lehmann, reside in Göppingen,
Germany.

==Education==
Graduated from Cleveland Heights High School,
Cleveland Heights, Ohio, in 1973; received a
bachelor of science degree in Physics from Case
Western Reserve University in 1977, and a master
of science degree and a doctorate in Materials
Science from Cornell University in 1980 and 1982,
respectively. His dissertation involved evaluating
the effect of crystalline defects and sample
purity on the superconducting properties of
niobium.

==Organizations==
Tau Beta Pi; Association of Space Explorers (ASE).

==Special honors==
Graduated with Honors from Case Western Reserve
University in 1977. Recipient of NASA Sustained
Superior Performance Award, 1989. Recipient of 4
NASA Group Achievement Awards, 4 NASA Space Flight
Medals, 2 NASA Exceptional Service Medals, and the
NASA Distinguished Service Medal.

==Experience==
Following graduation from Cornell University in
1982, Dr. Thomas joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in
Princeton, New Jersey, working as a Senior Member
of the Technical Staff. His responsibilities there
included the development of advanced materials and
processes for high density interconnections of
semiconductor devices. He was also an adjunct
professor in the Physics Department at Trenton
State College in New Jersey. He holds two patents
and has authored several technical papers. He left
AT&T in 1987 to work for Lockheed Engineering and
Sciences Company in Houston, Texas, where his
responsibilities involved reviewing materials used
in Space Shuttle payloads. In 1988 he joined
NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as a
Materials Engineer. His work involved lifetime
projections of advanced composite materials for
use on Space Station Freedom. He was also a
Principal Investigator for the Microgravity
Disturbances Experiment, a middeck crystal growth
experiment which flew on STS-32 in January 1990.
This experiment investigated the effects of
Orbiter and crew-induced disturbances on the
growth of crystals in space.

He is a private pilot with over 250 hours in
single engine land aircraft and gliders, and over
800 hours flying as mission specialist in NASA
T-38 jet aircraft.

==NASA experience==
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Thomas
became an astronaut in July 1991. Dr. Thomas has
served in the Safety, Operations Development, and
Payloads Branches of the Astronaut Office. He was
CAPCOM (spacecraft communicator) for Shuttle
missions STS-47, STS-52|52 and STS-53|53. From
July 1999 to June 2000 he was Director of
Operations for NASA at the Gagarin Cosmonaut
Training Center in Star City, Moscow, Russia. A
veteran of four space flights, he has logged over
1,040 hours in space. He was a mission specialist
on STS-65 (July 8, 1994-July 23, 1994), STS-70
(July 13, 1995-July 22, 1995), STS-83 (April 4,
1997-April 8, 1997) and STS-94 (July 1, 1997-July
17, 1997). Initially assigned to the ISS
Expedition-6 crew, his flight assignment
withdrawal resulted from a medical issue affecting
long duration space flight qualifications.

==Space flight experience==
STS-65 Shuttle Columbia|Columbia (July 8,
1994-July 23, 1994) set a new flight duration
record for the Space Shuttle program. The mission
flew the second International Microgravity
Laboratory (IML-2). During the 15-day flight the
crew conducted more than 80 experiments focusing
on materials and life sciences research in
microgravity. The mission was accomplished in 236
orbits of the Earth, traveling 6.1 million miles
in 353 hours and 55 minutes.

STS-70 Shuttle Discovery|Discovery July 13,
1995-July 22, 1995). During the STS-70 mission,
Dr. Thomas was responsible for the deployment of
the sixth and final Tracking and Data Relay
Satellite from the Space Shuttle. Mission duration
was 214 hours and 20 minutes, traveling 3.7
million miles in 142 orbits of the Earth.

STS-83 Shuttle Columbia|Columbia (April 4,
1997-April 8, 1997). The STS-83 Microgravity
Science Laboratory (MSL-1) Spacelab mission, was
cut short because of problems with one of the
Shuttle’s three fuel cell power generation
units. Mission duration was 95 hours and 12
minutes, traveling 1.5 million miles in 63 orbits
of the Earth.

STS-94 Shuttle Columbia|Columbia (July 1,
1997-July 17, 1997), was a re-flight of the
Microgravity Science Laboratory (MSL-1) Spacelab
mission, and focused on materials and combustion
science research in microgravity. Mission duration
was 376 hours and 45 minutes, traveling 6.3
million miles in 251 orbits of the Earth.

Source:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/thomas-d.htm
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