NAME:  Linda M. Godwin (Ph.D.)
       NASA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born July 2, 1952, in Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  Her
parents, Mr. and Mrs. James M. Godwin, reside in Oak Ridge, Missouri.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; brown eyes: 5 feet 7-1/2 inches; 125 pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from Jackson High School in Jackson, Missouri, in 1970;
received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and physics from Southeast
Missouri State in 1974, and a master of science degree and a doctorate in
physics from the University of Missouri in 1976 and 1980.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Single.
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  She enjoys playing saxophone and clarinet, running,
reading, and flying.
 
ORGANIZATIONS:  Member of the American Physical Society, and Space City Chapter
of the Ninety-Nines, Inc.
 
SPECIAL HONORS:  Recipient of NASA Outstanding Performance Rating and Sustained
Superior Performance Award.
 
EXPERIENCE:  After completing undergraduate studies in physics and mathematics
at Southeast Missouri State University, Dr. Godwin attended graduate school at
the University of Missouri in Columbia, MO.  During that time she taught
undergraduate physics labs and was the recipient of several research
assistantships.  She conducted research in low temperature solid state physics,
including studies in electron tunneling and vibrational modes of absorbed
molecular species on metallic substrates at liquid helium temperatures.
Results of her research have been published in several journals.
 
Dr. Godwin is an instrument rated private pilot.
 
NASA EXPERIENCE:  Dr. Godwin joined NASA in 1980, in the Payload Operations
Division, Mission Operations Directorate, where she worked in payload
integration (attached payloads and Spacelabs), and as a flight controller and
payloads officer on several Shuttle missions.
 
Selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in June 1985, Dr. Godwin became an
astronaut in July 1985, qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on
future Shuttle flight crews.  Her technical assignments have included working
with flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration
Laboratory (SAIL), and coordinating mission development activities for the
Inertial Upper Stage (IUS), deployable payloads, and Spacelab missions.  She
has also served as Chief of Astronaut Appearances.
 
Dr. Godwin flew as a mission specialist on the crew of STS-37, which launched
from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on April 5, 1991 and landed at Edwards
Air Force Base, California, on April 11.  During the 93 orbits of the mission,
the crew deployed the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) to study gamma ray sources
in the universe.  GRO, at almost 35,000 pounds, was the heaviest payload
deployed to date by the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (RMS).  The crew also
conducted an unscheduled space walk to free the GRO high gain antenna, and
conducted the first scheduled extravehicular activity in 5 1/2 years to test
concepts for moving about large space structures.  Several middeck experiments
and activities were conducted including test of elements of a heat pipe to
study fluid transfer processed in microgravity environments (SHARE), a chemical
processing apparatus to characterize the structure of biological materials
(BIMDA), and an experiment to grow larger and more perfect protein crystals
than can be grown on the ground (PCG II).
 
Atlantis carried amateur radio equipment for voice contact, fast scan and slow
scan TV, and packet radio.  Several hundred contacts were made with amateur
radio operators around the world.
 
With the completion of this flight, Dr. Godwin has logged a total of over 143
hours in space.
 
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:  Dr. Godwin is assigned as the payload commander on the
Space Radar Laboratory-01 flight, STS-59, scheduled for launch in late 1993.
SRL-01 will acquire radar images of the Earth's surface for making maps and
interpreting geological features and resource studies.
 
APRIL 1992