NAME:  Steven R. Nagel (Colonel, USAF)
       NASA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born October 27, 1946, in Canton, Illinois.  His parents,
Mr. and Mrs. Ivan R. Nagel, reside in Canton.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; blue eyes; 6 feet 1-1/2 inches; 165 pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from Canton Senior High School, Canton, Illinois, in
1964; received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical and astronautical
engineering (high honors) from the University of Illinois in 1969, and a master
of science degree in mechanical engineering from California State University,
Fresno, California, in 1978.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Married to the former Linda Diane Penney of Los Angeles,
California.  Her mother, Mrs. Mary Byars, is a resident of Greenville, South
Carolina.
 
CHILDREN:  Whitney, December 19, 1988.
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  His hobbies include sport flying and amateur radio.
 
ORGANIZATIONS:  Life member of the Order of Daedalians and Alpha Delta Phi; and
honorary member of Phi Eta Sigma, Sigma Tau, Tau Beta Pi, and Sigma Gamma Tau.
 
SPECIAL HONORS:  Awarded the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air
Medal with 7 Oak Leaf Clusters; and for undergraduate pilot training, recipient
of the Commander's Trophy, the Flying Trophy, the Academic Trophy, and the
Orville Wright Achievement Award (Order of Daedalians); also presented the Air
Force Meritorious Service Medal (1978), and NASA Space Flight Medals (1985).
 
EXPERIENCE:  Nagel received his commission in 1969 through the Air Force
Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) program at the University of Illinois.
He completed undergraduate pilot training at Laredo Air Force Base, Texas, in
February 1970, and subsequently reported to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, for
F-100 checkout training.
 
From October 1970 to July 1971, Nagel was an F-100 pilot with the 68th Tactical
Fighter Squadron at England Air Force Base, Louisiana.  He served a 1-year tour
of duty as a T-28 instructor for the Laotian Air Force at Udorn RTAFB, Udorn,
Thailand, prior to returning to the United States in October 1972 to assume
A-7D instructor pilot and flight examiner duties at England Air Force Base,
Louisiana.  Nagel attended the USAF Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force
Base, California, from February to December 1975; and in January 1976, he was
assigned to the 6,512th Test Squadron located at Edwards.  As a test pilot, he
has worked on various projects which have included flying the F-4 and A-7D.
 
He has logged 6,900 hours flying time -- 4,600 hours in jet aircraft.
 
NASA EXPERIENCE:  Nagel became a NASA astronaut in August 1979.  His technical
assignments have included backup T-38 chase pilot for STS-1; support crew and
backup entry CAPCOM for STS-2; support crew and primary entry CAPCOM for STS-3;
software verification at Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) and
Flight Simulation Laboratory (FSL); representing the Astronaut Office in the
development of a crew escape system for the Space Shuttle; Acting Chief of the
Astronaut Office.
 
Nagel first flew as a mission specialist on the crew of STS 51-G which launched
from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 17, 1985.  The crew on board
the Orbiter Discovery deployed communications satellites for Mexico (Morelos),
the Arab League (Arabsat), and the United States (AT&T Telstar).  They used the
Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to deploy and later retrieve the SPARTAN
satellite which performed 17 hours of x-ray astronomy experiments while
separated from the Space Shuttle.  In addition, the crew activated the
Automated Directional Solidification Furnace (ADSF), six "Getaway Specials",
participated in biomedical experiments, and conducted a laser tracking
experiment as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative.  After completing
approximately 170 hours of space flight, Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force
Base, California, on June 24, 1985.
 
Nagel then flew as pilot on the crew of STS-61A, the West German D-1 Spacelab
mission, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on October 30,
1985.  This mission was the first in which payload activities were controlled
from outside the United States.  More than 75 scientific experiments were
completed in the areas of physiological sciences, materials processing,
biology, and navigation.  After completing 111 orbits of the earth, the Orbiter
Challenger landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 6, 1985.
 
On his third flight, Nagel was commander of the STS-37 crew on board the
Shuttle Atlantis, which launched into orbit April 5, 1991 from Kennedy Space
Center, Florida and landed on April 11, 1991 at Edwards Air Force Base,
California.  During this mission the crew deployed the Gamma Ray Observatory
(GRO) for the purpose of exploring gamma ray sources throughout the universe,
and conducted the first scheduled space walk in more than five and one-half
years.  Also the crew performed the first successful unscheduled space walk to
free a stuck antenna on GRO.
 
With the completion of this flight Nagel has logged a total of 483 hours in
space.
 
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:  Colonel Nagel will serve as spacecraft commander of the
Spacelab-D2 mission, STS-55, scheduled for an early 1993 launch.  STS-55 is a
cooperative mission with the German Space Agency to conduct research in
robotics, materials processing and life sciences.
 
FEBRUARY 1992