NAME:  James H. Newman (Ph.D.)
       NASA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born October 16, 1956, in the Trust Territory of
the Pacific Islands, but considers San Diego, California, to be his
hometown.  His mother, Ms. Ruth Hansen, and his father, Dr. William
Newman, are both residents of San Diego.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; brown eyes; 6 feet 2 inches; 165
pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from La Jolla High School, San Diego, California
in 1974; received a bachelor of arts degree in physics (graduated Cum
Laude) from Dartmouth College in 1978, a master of arts degree and a
doctorate in physics from Rice University in 1982 and 1984,
respectively.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Single
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  Enjoys hiking, soccer, softball, squash, and
soaring.
 
ORGANIZATIONS:  Member of the American Physical Society and Sigma Xi.
 
SPECIAL HONORS:  Awarded a Citation in Senior Thesis Research from
Dartmouth College in 1978.  Elected to Sigma Xi in 1980.  Recipient of
1982-83 Texaco Fellowship, the Sigma Xi Graduate Merit Award in 1985,
and 1988 NASA Superior Achievement Award.  Selected by NASA/JSC to
attend the 1989 Summer Session of the International Space University
in Strasbourg, France.
 
EXPERIENCE:  After graduating from Rice University in 1984, Dr. Newman
did an additional year of post-doctoral work at Rice.  His research
interests are in atomic and molecular physics, specifically medium to
low energy collisions of atoms and molecules of aeronomic interest.
His doctoral work at Rice University was in the design, construction,
testing, and use of a new, position-sensitive detection system for
measuring differential cross sections of collisions of atoms and
molecules.  In 1985, Dr. Newman was appointed an Adjunct Assistant
Professor in the Department of Space Physics and Astronomy at Rice
University.  That same year he came to work at NASA's Johnson Space
Center, where his duties included responsibility for conducting flight
crew and flight control team training for all mission phases in the
areas of orbiter propulsion, guidance, and control.  He was working as
a Simulation Supervisor when selected for the astronaut program.  In
that capacity, he was responsible for a team of instructors conducting
flight controller training.
 
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Dr. Newman began a year of astronaut
candidate training in July 1990, and became an astronaut in July
1991.  His technical assignments since then include duties in the
Astronaut Office Mission Support Branch where he is part of a team
responsible for crew ingress/strap-in prior to launch and crew egress
after landing.
 
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:  Dr. Newman has recently been selected as a
mission specialist on STS-51, scheduled to launch in February 1993.
The crew of five aboard the Shuttle Discovery will deploy the U.S.
Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS) and will also
deploy the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS) with NASA and German
scientific experiments aboard.  The SPAS will be retrieved prior to
the end of the nine-day mission.
 
APRIL 1992