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Leroy Chiao (zh-cp |c=焦立中
|p=Jiāo Lìzhōng) (born August 28, 1960)
is an United States|American NASA astronaut who
was stationed on board the International Space
Station between 2004 and 2005.

==Early life==
Chiao was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin|Milwaukee,
Wisconsin and raised in Danville,
California|Danville, California. Chiao graduated
from Monte Vista High School in Danville in 1978.
In 1983 he received a bachelor of science degree
in chemical engineering from the University of
California, Berkeley, where he was a member of the
Phi Kappa Tau fraternity.  He earned a master of
science degree and then a doctorate in chemical
engineering from the University of California,
Santa Barbara in 1985 and 1987, respectively.

==Pre-NASA professional experience==
Upon graduation, Chiao worked at Hexcel
Corporation in Dublin, California from 1987 to
1989. He was involved in process, manufacturing
and engineering research on advanced aerospace
materials; worked on a joint NASA-JPL/Hexcel
project to develop a practical, optically correct,
precision segment reflector made entirely of
advanced polymer composite materials for future
space telescopes; as well as working on cure
modeling and finite element analysis. In January
1989, Chiao joined the Lawrence Livermore National
Laboratory in Livermore, California, where he was
involved in processing research for fabrication of
filament-wound and thick-section aerospace
composites. Chiao also developed and demonstrated
a mechanistic cure model for carbon fiber|graphite
fiber/epoxy composite material (see
Graphite-reinforced plastic). An instrument-rated
pilot, Dr. Chiao has logged over 2500 flight hours
in a variety of aircraft.



==NASA experience==

Selected by NASA in January
1990_in_science#Astronomy_and_space_exploration|19
90, Chiao became an astronaut in July
1991_in_science#Astronomy_and_space_exploration|19
91. He is qualified for flight assignment as a
mission specialist. His technical assignments to
date include: Space Shuttle flight software
verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration
Laboratory (SAIL); crew equipment, Spacelab,
Spacehab and payloads issues for the Astronaut
Office Mission Development Branch; Training and
Flight Data File issues; and Extra-vehicular
activity (EVA) issues for the EVA Branch. Chiao
also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office EVA
Branch. 

A veteran of three space flights, Chiao flew as a
mission specialist on STS-65 in
1994_in_science#Astronomy_and_space_exploration|19
94, STS-72 in
1996_in_science#Astronomy_and_space_exploration|19
96 and STS-92 in
2000_in_science#Astronomy_and_space_exploration|20
00. Chiao had logged over 36 days and 12.5 hours
in outer space|space, including over 26 EVA hours
in four space walks, prior to his mission aboard
the International Space Station.

As of
2005_in_science#Astronomy_and_space_exploration|20
05, Chiao is assigned as Commander and NASA
Science Officer of Expedition 10, which launched
aboard a Soyuz launch vehicle|Soyuz on 14 October
2004.

In addition to being fluent in Mandarin
(linguistics)|Mandarin, Chiao learned Russian
language|Russian as part of the International
Space Station program.  On November 2 2004, Dr.
Chiao voted in the US presidential election,
2004|2004 United States presidential election from
aboard the International Space Station, making him
the first American to vote in a presidential
election while in space.

==Special honors==
* Invited to give technical seminars on honeycomb
material and bonded panels, as well as cure
modeling of aerospace composite materials, at the
Beijing Institute of Aeronautical Materials, and
at the Changsha Institute of Technology, 5th
Department, in the People's Republic of China 
* Invited contributor to the International
Encyclopedia of Composite Materials
* Listed in Who's Who in Science and Engineering
* Recipient of Distinguished Alumni Award from
University of California, Santa Barbara
* Keynote Commencement Speaker for the Departments
of Engineering at the University of California at
Berkeley, and at Santa Barbara, in 1996
* Recipient of three NASA Space Flight Medals, and
numerous awards including two NASA Exceptional
Service Awards.

==Detailed space flight experience==

STS-65 |STS-65 Columbia (July 8–July 23,
1994) launched from and returned to land at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, setting a new
flight duration record for the Space Shuttle
program at that time. The STS-65 mission flew the
second International Microgravity Laboratory
(IML-2). During the 15-day flight the seven-member
crew conducted more than 80 experiments focusing
on materials and life sciences research in
microgravity. The STS-65 mission was accomplished
in 236 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6.1 million
miles in 353 hours and 55 minutes.

STS-72 |STS-72 Endeavour (January 11–January
20, 1996) was a nine-day mission during which the
crew retrieved the Space Flyer Unit (launched from
Japan ten months earlier), and deployed and
retrieved the OAST-Flyer. Chiao performed two
spacewalks designed to demonstrate tools and
hardware, and evaluate techniques to be used in
the assembly of the International Space Station.
In completing this mission, Chiao logged a total
of 214 hours and 41 seconds in space, including
just over thirteen EVA hours, and traveled 3.7
million miles in 142 orbits of the Earth.

STS-92 |STS-92 Discovery (October 11–October
24, 2000) was launched from the Kennedy Space
Center, Florida and returned to land at Edwards
Air Force Base, California. During the 13-day
flight, the seven member crew attached the Z1
Truss and Pressurized Mating Adapter 3 to the
International Space Station using
Discovery’s robotic arm and performed four
space walks to configure these elements. This
expansion of the ISS opened the door for future
assembly missions and prepared the station for its
first resident crew. Chiao totaled 13 hours and 16
minutes of EVA time in two space walks. The STS-92
mission was accomplished in 202 orbits, traveling
5.3 million miles in 12 days, 21 hours, 40 minutes
and 25 seconds.

ISS Expedition 10 October 9, 2004–April 24
2005, Chiao was the Commander of Expedition 10 on
the International Space Station.

==Personal Life==
Chiao married his wife, Karen, in 2003. He enjoys
flying his Grumman Tiger aircraft, 
as well as skiing.

==See also==
Other Chinese-American astronauts with NASA:
Edward Tsang Lu, Taylor Wang|Taylor Gun-Jin Wang.

==External links==
*http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/chiao.html
NASA biography

NASA