National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058

Biographical Data

NAME: Mary L. Cleave (Ph.D.)

NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA:

Born February 5, 1947, in Southampton, New York. Her parents, Dr. and Mrs. Howard E. Cleave, reside in Williamstown, Massachusetts.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:

Brown hair; green eyes; height: 5 feet 2 inches; weight: 103 pounds.

EDUCATION:

Graduated from Great Neck North High School, Great Neck, New York, in 1965; received a bachelor of science degree in Biological Sciences from Colorado State University in 1969, and a master of science in Microbial Ecology and a doctorate in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Utah State University in 1975 and 1979, respectively.

MARITAL STATUS:

Unmarried.

CHILDREN:

RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:

She enjoys cross-country and downhill skiing, sailing, hiking, and camping.

ORGANIZATIONS:

Member of the Texas Society of Professional Engineers, the Water Pollution Control Federation, Tri-Beta, Sigma Xi, and Tau Beta Pi; associate member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

SPECIAL HONORS:

Recipient of NASA Space Flight Medal (1985), NASA Exceptional Service Medal (1988).

EXPERIENCE:

Dr. Cleave held graduate research, research phycologist, and research engineer assignments in the Ecology Center and the Utah Water Research Laboratory at Utah State University from September 1971 to June 1980. Her work included research on the productivity of the algal component of cold desert soil crusts in the Great Basin Desert south of Snowville, Utah; algal removal with intermittent sand filtration and prediction of minimum river flow necessary to maintain certain game fish; the effects of increased salinity and oil shale leachates on freshwater phytoplankton productivity; development of the Surface Impoundment Assessment document and computer program (FORTRAN) for current and future processing of data from surface impoundments in Utah; and design and implementation of an algal bioassay center and a workshop for bioassay techniques for the Intermountain West. In conjunction with her research efforts, she has published numerous scientific papers.

NASA EXPERIENCE:

Dr. Cleave was selected as an astronaut in May 1980. Her technical assignments have included work at the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), CAPCOM on five Space Shuttle flights, Malfunctions Procedures Book, and Crew Equipment Design.

Dr. Cleave was a mission specialist on STS-61B which launched at night from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 26, 1985. During this mission the crew members deployed the MORELOS-B, AUSSAT II, and SATCOM K-2 communications satellites, conducted 2 six hour spacewalks to demonstrate Space Station construction techniques with the EASE/ACCESS experiments, operated the Continuous Flow Electrophoresis (CFES) experiment for McDonnell Douglas and a Getaway Special (GAS) container for Telesat, Canada, conducted several Mexican Payload Specialist Experiments for the Mexican Government, and tested the Orbiter Experiments Digital Autopilot (OEX DAP). This was the heaviest payload weight carried to orbit by the Space Shuttle to date. After completing 108 orbits of the Earth in 165 hours, STS-61B Atlantis landed on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on December 3, 1985.

On her second flight, Dr. Cleave was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-30 which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on May 4, 1989, aboard the Orbiter Atlantis. During this four day mission, crew members successfully deployed the Magellan Venus-exploration spacecraft, the first U.S. planetary science mission launched since 1978, and the first planetary probe to be deployed from the Shuttle. Magellan is arrived at Venus in mid-1990, and will map the entire surface of Venus. In addition, crew members also worked on secondary payloads involving Indium crystal growth, electrical storm, and earth observation studies. Following 64 orbits of the earth, the STS-30 mission concluded with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California on May 8, 1989.

With the completion of this flight she has logged a total of 262 hours in space.

CURRENT ASSIGNMENT: Dr. Cleave is detailed to Engineering at the Johnson Space Center, where she serves as Special Assistant for Advanced Programs in the Crew Systems and Thermal Division.

ARCHIVAL BIOGRAPHY LAST UPDATED JUNE 1990