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Michael L. Coats is a former NASA astronaut born
on January 16, 1946, in Sacramento, California,
and raised in Riverside, California.  His father,
Col. Loyd A. Coats (USAF Ret.), resides in Dunbar,
Wisconsin.  His mother, Mrs. Jan Coats, resides in
Ft. Collins, Colorado.  He has brown hair and blue
eyes.  He is exactly 6 feet (1.83 m) tall and
weighs 190 pounds (86 kg).  He is married to the
former Diane Eileen Carson of Oklahoma City,
Oklahoma.  Her parents, Dr. and Mrs. James W.
Carson, reside in O'Fallon, Illinois.  He has two
children, Laura M., August 29, 1973; Paul M.,
November 2, 1978.   He enjoys reading,
racquetball, and jogging.
 
==Education==
Graduated from Ramona High School, Riverside,
California, in 1964; received a bachelor of
science degree from the United States Naval
Academy in 1968, a master of science in
Administration of Science and Technology from
George Washington University in 1977, and master
of science in Aerospace engineering|Aeronautical
Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate
School in 1979.
 
==Organizations==
Member, Society of Experimental Test Pilots;
Associate Fellow, American Institute of
Aeronautics and Astronautics.
 
==Special Honors==
Awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal, 2 Navy
Distinguished Flying Crosses, 32 Strike/Flight
numerals|Strike Flight Air Medals, 3 Individual
Action Air Medals, 9 Navy Commendation Medals with
Combat V, and the NASA Space Flight Medal.
 
==Experience==
Coats graduated from the Naval Academy in 1968 and
was designated a Naval aviator|naval aviator in
September 1969.  After training as an A-7E pilot,
he was assigned to Attack Squadron 192 (VA-192)
from August 1970 to September 1972 aboard the USS
Kitty Hawk and, during this time, flew 315 combat
missions in Southeast Asia. He served as a flight
instructor with the A-7E Readiness Training
Squadron (VA-122) at Naval Air Station
Lemoore|Naval Air Station, Lemoore, California,
from September 1972 to December 1973 and was then
selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot
School, Naval Air Station Patuxent River|Patuxent
River, Maryland.  Following test pilot training in
1974, he was project officer and test pilot for
the A-7 Corsair II|A-7 and A-4 Skyhawk|A-4
aircraft at the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate. 
He served as a flight instructor at the U.S. Naval
Test Pilot School from April 1976 until May 1977. 
He then attended the U.S. Naval Postgraduate
School at Monterey, California, from June 1977
until his selection for the astronaut candidate
program. He has logged over 5,000 hours flying
time in 28 different types of aircraft, and 400
carrier landings.
 
===NASA===
Selected as an astronaut candidate in 1978, Coats
became a  NASA Astronaut in August 1979.  He was a
member of the STS-4 astronaut support crew, and
was a capsule communicator for STS-4 and STS-5.  A
veteran of three space flights, Coats flew on
STS-41-D in 1984, STS-29 in 1989, and STS-39 in
1991.  From May 1989 to March 1990, he served as
Acting Chief of the Astronaut Office.

====STS-41D====
On his first mission, Coats was pilot on the crew
of STS-41-D, which launched from Kennedy Space
Center, Florida, on August 30, 1984.  This was the
maiden flight of the Space_Shuttle_Discovery
|Orbiter Discovery.  During this 6-day mission the
crew successfully activated the OAST-1 solar cell
wing experiment, deployed three satellites (SBS-D,
SYNCOM IV-2, and TELSTAR 3-C), operated the
CFES-III experiment, the student crystal growth
experiment, and photography experiments using the
IMAX motion picture camera.  The crew earned the
name "Icebusters" in successfully removing
hazardous ice particles from the orbiter using the
Remote Manipulator System.  STS-41D completed 96
orbits of the earth before landing at Edwards Air
Force Base, California, on September 5, 1984.

====STS-61H====
In February 1985, Coats was selected as spacecraft
commander of STS-61-H, which
was subsequently canceled after the Challenger
accident.

====STS-29====
As spacecraft commander of STS-29, Coats and his
crew launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
aboard the Orbiter Discovery, on March 13, 1989. 
During
this highly successful five day mission, the crew
deployed a TDRS|Tracking and Data
Relay Satellite, and performed numerous secondary
experiments, including a
Space Station "heat pipe" radiator experiment, two
student experiments, a
protein crystal growth experiment, and a
chromosome and plant cell division
experiment.  In addition, the crew took over 3,000
photographs of the earth
using several types of cameras, including the IMAX
70 mm movie camera.  Mission
duration was 80 orbits and concluded with a
landing at Edwards Air Force Base,
California, on March 18, 1989. With the completion
of his second mission, Coats has logged a total of
264
hours in space.


====STS-39====
More recently, Coats commanded a seven man crew on
STS-39.  This unclassified
eight day Department of Defense mission launched
from the Kennedy Space Center,
Florida on April 28, 1991.  Crew members worked
around-the-clock in two-shift
operations during which they deployed, operated
and retrieved the SPAS-II
spacecraft, in addition to conducting various
science experiments including
research of both natural and induced phenomena in
the Earth's atmosphere.
After completing 134 orbits of the Earth,
Discovery and her crew landed at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida on May 6, 1991. With
the completion of his third mission, Coats has
logged over 463 hours in
space.
 
JUNE 1991


Source:
http://science.ksc.nasa.gov/persons/astronauts/a-t
o-d/CoatsML.txt NASA Biography of Michael L. Coats