About
Dr. Nancy Currie-Gregg was assigned to NASA's Johnson Space Center in September 1987 as a flight simulation engineer She became an astronaut in 1990 and flew her first mission aboard the Space Shuttle in 1993. She flew three more Shuttle missions (see mission details below) and also served as the chief of the Astronaut Office Robotics and Payloads-Habitability branches and the Habitability and Human Factors Office in JSC’s Space and Life Sciences Directorate. She has assisted the Johnson Space Center’s Automation, Robotics, and Simulation Division in the development of advanced robotics systems and is a consultant to NASA’s Space Human Factors Engineering Project.
In September 2003, following the loss of the Shuttle Columbia, Currie-Gregg was selected to lead the Space Shuttle Program’s Safety and Mission Assurance Office. She worked as a principal engineer in the NASA Engineering and Safety Center until her departure from the agency in September 2017.
Currie-Gregg served for 24 years in the United States Army. Prior to her assignment at NASA, she attended rotary-wing pilot training and was subsequently assigned as an instructor pilot at the U.S. Army Aviation School She served in a variety of leadership positions including section leader, platoon leader and leader, as well as brigade flight-standardization officer. As a Master Army Aviator, she has logged over 3,900 flying hours in a variety of rotary-wing and fixed-wing aircraft. She is a member of the Army Aviation Association of America Hall of Fame.
She received a Bachelor of Arts degree, with honors, in biological science from The Ohio State University in 1980, a Master of Science degree in safety engineering from the University of Southern California in 1985, and a Doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Houston in 1997. Prior to joining the faculty in Industrial engineering at Texas A&M University in September 2017, Currie-Gregg served as an adjunct professor at Rice University, North Carolina State University and the University of Houston.
Currie-Gregg is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi, Ohio State University and ROTC Alumni Associations, the Institute of Industrial Engineerings and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.
STS-57 Endeavour(June 21 to July 1, 1993). The primary mission objective was the retrieval of the European Retrievable Carrier satellite (EURECA). Additionally, the mission featured the first flight of Spacehab, a commercially provided middeck augmentation module for the conduct of microgravity experiments, as well as a spacewalk by two crewmembers, during which Currie operated the shuttle’s robotic arm. Spacehab carried 22 individual flight experiments in materials and life sciences research. STS-57 orbited the Earth 155 times and covered 4.1 million miles in 239 hours and 45 minutes.
STS-70 Discovery (July 13 to July 22, 1995). The five-member crew deployed the final NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite to complete the constellation of NASA’s orbiting communication satellite system. The crew also conducted a myriad of biomedical and remote sensing experiments. STS-70 orbited the Earth 143 times, traveling 3.7 million miles in 214 hours and 20 minutes.
STS-88 Endeavour (December 4 to December 15, 1998) was the first International Space Station (ISS) assembly mission. During the 12-day mission the U.S.-built node was mated with the Russian-built Functional Cargo Block (FGB). The crew performed three spacewalks and the initial activation and first ingress of the ISS, preparing it for future assembly missions and full-time occupation. The crew also deployed two satellites, Mighty Sat 1 and SAC-A. Currie’s primary role during the mission was to operate the shuttle’s 50-foot robotic arm. The mission was accomplished in 185 orbits of the Earth and covered 4.7 million miles in 283 hours and 18 minutes.
STS-109 Columbia (March 1 to March 12, 2002). STS-109 was the fourth Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission and the 108th flight of the space shuttle. Hubble’s scientific capabilities and power system were significantly upgraded with the replacement of both solar arrays and the primary power control unit, the installation of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, and a scientific instrument cooling system. Currie’s primary role was to operate the shuttle’s 50-foot robot arm to retrieve and redeploy the telescope and during a series of five consecutive spacewalks performed by four crewmembers. STS-109 orbited the Earth 165 times, traveling 3.9 million miles in 262 hours and 10 minutes.
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