NAME:  Richard J. Hieb (Mr.)
       NASA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born September 21, 1955, in Jamestown, North Dakota.  His
parents, Mr. & Mrs. Fred Hieb, reside in Jamestown, North Dakota.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; hazel eyes; 6 feet 3 inches; 200 pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from Jamestown High School, Jamestown, North Dakota, in
1973; received a bachelor of arts degree in math and physics from Northwest
Nazarene College in 1977, and a master of science degree in aerospace
engineering from the University of Colorado in 1979.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Married to the former Jeannie Hendricks of Norfolk, Virginia.
Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. John R. Hendricks, reside in Norfolk, Virginia.
 
CHILDREN:  Lindsey Michelle, June 18, 1986; Jonathan Michael, July 21, 1989.
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  He enjoys sports and family outings.
 
NASA EXPERIENCE:  After graduating from the University of Colorado in 1979, Mr.
Hieb came directly to NASA to work in crew procedures development and crew
activity planning.  He worked in the Mission Control Center on the ascent team
for STS-1, and during rendezvous phases on numerous subsequent flights.  He has
an extensive background in on-orbit procedures development, particularly in
rendezvous and proximity operations.
 
Selected by NASA in June 1985, Mr. Hieb became an astronaut in July 1986,
qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight
crews.  Since then he has held a variety of technical assignments including
launch support activities at Kennedy Space Center, and has served in both the
Mission Development Branch and in the Operations Development Branch of the
Astronaut Office.  He supported the STS-26 mission as a part of the close-out
crew prior to launch and as a part of the change-out crew just after landing.
A veteran of two space flights, Mr. Hieb flew on STS-39 in 1991, and STS-49 in
1992.  He has logged over 400 hours in space, including over 17 hours of EVA
(space walk).
 
Mr. Hieb first flew on the crew of STS-39, an unclassified Department of
Defense mission which launched on April 28, 1991 from the Kennedy Space Center
in Florida.  During the mission, he was responsible for operating the Infrared
Background Signature Satellite (IBSS) from within the payload bay, on the
Remote Manipulator System (RMS) and as a free-flying satellite.  He also
operated the RMS to release the IBSS, and then to retrieve the IBSS a day and a
half later.  After 134 orbits of the Earth which covered 3.45 million nautical
miles and lasted just over 199 hours, the crew landed at Edwards Air Force
Base, California, on May 6, 1991.
 
Mr. Hieb was also a mission specialist on the crew of STS-49, the maiden voyage
of the new Space Shuttle Endeavour, which launched from the Kennedy Space
Center on May 7, 1992.  During that mission, Hieb along with astronaut Pierre
Thuot, performed three space walks which resulted in the capture and repair of
the stranded INTELSAT VI communications satellite.  The third space walk, which
also included astronaut Tom Akers, was the first ever three-person space walk.
This 8 hour and 29 minute space walk, the longest in history, broke a twenty
year old record that was held by Apollo 17 astronauts.  The mission concluded
on May 16, 1992 with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base after orbiting the
Earth 141 times in 213 hours and traveling 3.7 million miles.
 
MAY 1992