15 Facts About Andy Thomas

Andy Thomas has dual nationality; he became a US citizen in December 1986, hoping to gain entry to NASA's astronaut program.

Andy Thomas is married to fellow NASA astronaut Shannon Walker.

Andy Thomas appears in the 1972 edition of the Adelaide University Engineering Society's annual publication, Hysteresis.

Andy Thomas's father has described how he started building model rockets from cardboard and plastics.

Andy Thomas's career continued in the field, steering towards more senior research positions.

Andy Thomas was selected by NASA in March 1992 and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992.

Andy Thomas provided technical support to the Space Shuttle Main Engine project, the Solid Rocket Motor project and the External Tank project at the Marshall Space Flight Center.

In June 1995, Andy Thomas was named as payload commander for STS-77 and flew his first flight in space on Endeavour in May 1996.

Andy Thomas next trained at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia in preparation for a long-duration flight.

From August 2001 to November 2003, Andy Thomas served as Deputy Chief of the Astronaut Office.

Andy Thomas completed his fourth space flight on STS-114 and has logged over 177 days in space.

Andy Thomas was working with issues for the Exploration Branch of the Astronaut Office until his retirement from NASA in February 2014.

On 22 January 1998, Andy Thomas launched aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour as part of the STS-89 crew to dock with the Mir Space Station.

Andy Thomas served aboard Mir as flight engineer 2 and returned to earth with the crew of STS-91 aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on 12 June 1998, completing 130 days in space and 2,250 orbits of the earth.

Andy Thomas tested and evaluated new procedures for flight safety and inspection and repair techniques for the Shuttle's thermal protection system.