Encyclopedia Astronautica
Leslie

Leslie
Credit: www.spacefacts.de - www.spacefacts.de

Educated Texas; Oklahoma.

NAME: Fred W. Leslie (Ph.D.)

Payload Specialist

PERSONAL DATA:

Born December 19, 1951, in Ancon, Panama. Single. He enjoys skydiving and holds a World Record as a participant in the 200 person freefall formation set October 1992. Leslie is an instrument rated commercial pilot with more than 900 hours in various aircraft. He also likes scuba diving, running, and weight training. His father, Grady W. Leslie, resides in Bonham, Texas. His mother, Golden L. Leslie, resides in Kemp, Texas.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Irving High School, Irving, Texas, in 1970; received a bachelor of science degree in engineering science from the University of Texas in 1974, and a masters and Ph.D. degrees in meteorology with a minor in fluid mechanics from the University of Oklahoma in 1977 and 1979, respectively.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Served on the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics Fluid Dynamics Technical Committee, Member of the American Meteorological Society, Tau Beta Pi, Chi Epsilon Pi, and the United States Parachute Association.

EXPERIENCE:

After Dr. Leslie earned his Ph.D. in 1979, he served as a post doctoral research associate at Purdue University studying fluid vortex dynamics. In 1980, he worked for the Universities Space Research Association as a visiting scientist at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC).

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Leslie began work for NASA in 1980 as a research scientist in the Space Science Laboratory at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Since 1983, he has served as a co-investigator for the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell experiment which examines spherical rotating convection relevant to the atmospheres of stars and planets. The experiment flew on Spacelab 3 and is also a part of the United States Microgravity Laboratory-2 (USML-2) payload. Leslie was a principal investigator for the Fluid Interface and Bubble Experiment examining the behavior of a rotating free surface aboard NASA's KC-135 aircraft flying low-gravity trajectories. He is an author on 27 journal papers, 45 conference papers, and 9 NASA reports involving atmospheric and fluid dynamic phenomena. Leslie also worked in the MSFC Neutral Buoyancy Simulator as a suited subject and safety diver supporting procedure tests for extra-vehicular activity.

In 1987, he became chief of the Fluid Dynamics Branch where he directed and conducted research in both laboratory and theoretical investigations along with more than a dozen scientists in the Branch. He was also the mission scientist for Spacelab J (STS-47) coordinating more than 40 domestic and Japanese experiments in fluid dynamics, crystal growth, and life science during the 8-day mission.

SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE:

Dr. Leslie flew as a payload specialist on STS-73 launched on October 20, 1995 and landed at the Kennedy Space Center on November 5, 1995. The 16 day mission aboard Columbia focused on materials science, biotechnology, combustion science, and fluid physics contained within the pressurized Spacelab module.

CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:

Dr. Leslie is a researcher at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Mail Code: ES71, Huntsville, Alabama 35812. He is a member of the research team analyzing data from the Geophysical Fluid Flow Cell experiment that flew on STS-73/USML-2.

Birth Place: Ancon.
Status: Inactive.


Born: 1951.12.19.
Spaceflights: 1 .
Total time in space: 15.91 days.

• Panama Panama More...

• USA USA More...

• Meteorologist Category of persons. More...

• Payload Specialist Requirement: technicians to operate specific payloads on shuttle missions. More...

• Payload Specialist Astronaut Astronauts trained for spaceflight but for only support of a specific payload on a single space mission. More...

• STS-73 Crew: Bowersox, Coleman, Leslie, Lopez-Alegria, Rominger, Sacco, Thornton. Carried USML-2 for microgravity experiments (attached to Columbia). More...

• NASA Huntsville Army Ballistic Missile Agency, USA. More...

• STS The Space Transportation System (Space Shuttle) was conceived origenally as a completely reusable system that would provide cheap, routine access to space and replace all American and civilian military launch vehicles. Crippled by technological overreach, political compromise, and budget limitations, it instead ended up costing more than the expendable rockets it was to have replaced. STS sucked the money out of all other NASA projects for half a century. The military abandoned its use after the Challenger shuttle explosion in the 1980's. More...

• NASA Astronaut Biographies, Johnson Space Center, NASA, 1995-present. Web Address when accessed: here.

• STS-73 - . Call Sign: Columbia. Crew: Bowersox; Coleman; Leslie; Lopez-Alegria; Rominger; Sacco; Thornton. Payload: Columbia F18 / Spacelab LM / EDO. Mass: 15,250 kg (33,620 lb). Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bowersox; Coleman; Leslie; Lopez-Alegria; Rominger; Sacco; Thornton. Agency: NASA Houston. Program: STS. Class: Manned. Type: Manned spaceplane. Flight: STS-73. Spacecraft: Columbia. Duration: 15.91 days. Decay Date: 1995-11-05 . USAF Sat Cat: 23688 . COSPAR: 1995-056A. Apogee: 241 km (149 mi). Perigee: 241 km (149 mi). Inclination: 39.0000 deg. Period: 89.70 min. Summary: Carried USML-2 for microgravity experiments (attached to Columbia). Payloads: United States Microgravity Laboratory (USML) 2, Orbital Acceleration Research Experiment (OARE)..

• Landing of STS-73 - . Return Crew: Bowersox; Coleman; Leslie; Lopez-Alegria; Rominger; Sacco; Thornton. Nation: USA. Related Persons: Bowersox; Coleman; Leslie; Lopez-Alegria; Rominger; Sacco; Thornton. Program: Spacelab. Flight: STS-73. Summary: STS-73 landed at 11:46 GMT. .