NAME:  Pierre J. Thuot (pronounced THOO-it) (Commander, USN)
       NASA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born May 19, 1955, in Groton, Connecticut, but considers
Fairfax, Virginia, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, to be his hometowns.  His
parents, Capt. & Mrs. Clifford G. Thuot, Sr., (USNR, Ret.), reside in Fairfax,
Virginia.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; brown eyes; 5 feet 9 inches; 160 pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from Fairfax High School, Fairfax, Virginia, in 1973;
received a bachelor of science degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy in
1977, and a master of science degree in systems management from the University
of Southern California in 1985.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Married to the former Cheryl Ann Mattingly of Leonardtown,
Maryland.  Her parents, Mr. & Mrs. Robert L. Mattingly, reside in Leonardtown,
Maryland.
 
CHILDREN:  Christopher Ryan, August 29, 1991.
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  He enjoys skiing, softball, computers, and rock and
roll music.
 
ORGANIZATIONS:  Member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the
Association of Naval Aviation, the University of Southern California Alumni
Association, the Association of Space Explorers-USA, and an Associate Fellow of
the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.
 
SPECIAL HONORS:  NASA Space Flight Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, Who's
Who Among Rising Young Americans 1991 and 1992, two Meritorious Unit
Commendations, two Battle Efficiency Awards (VF-14), the Sea Service Deployment
Ribbon, and the National Defense Service Medal.
 
EXPERIENCE:  Thuot graduated 30th in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy in
1977 and commenced Naval Flight Officer training in July 1977.  He received his
wings in August 1978 and then reported to Fighter Squadron 101 at NAS Oceana,
Virginia Beach, Virginia, for initial F-14 Tomcat training as a Radar Intercept
Officer (RIO).  Upon completion of this training he was assigned to Fighter
Squadron 14 and made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean and Caribbean
Seas aboard the USS John F. Kennedy and USS Independence.  While assigned to
Fighter Squadron 14 he attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN).  He
was then selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in May 1982.  Upon
graduation in June 1983 he worked as a project test flight officer at the Naval
Air Test Center flying the F-14A Tomcat, A-6E Intruder and F-4J Phantom ll
until June 1984, when he returned to the staff of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot
School as a flight instructor.
 
He has over 2,700 flight hours in over 40 different aircraft, and has over 270
carrier landings.
 
NASA EXPERIENCE:  Selected by NASA in June 1985, Thuot became an astronaut in
July 1986, qualified for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space
Shuttle flight crews.  From January 1986 until August 1987 he was assigned to
the Mission Development Branch within the Astronaut Office.  During that time
he participated in the design, development and evaluation of Space Shuttle
payloads and crew equipment that had extravehicular activity (EVA) interfaces
or interfaced with the Space Shuttle's Remote Manipulator System (RMS).  He was
then assigned to the Mission Support Branch within the Astronaut Office.  His
duties included Space Shuttle flight software verification in the Shuttle
Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), and Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in
the Mission Control Center for STS-26, STS-27, STS-28, STS-29, and STS-30
on-orbit operations.  As CAPCOM he was responsible for communications with the
Shuttle crew during training simulations and actual missions.  He has also
served as the Astronaut Office representative for flight crew equipment, crew
escape, EVA and satellite servicing.  A veteran of two space flights, Thuot
flew on STS-36 in 1990, and STS-49 in 1992.
 
On his first flight, Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-36 which
launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 28, 1990, aboard
the Space Shuttle Atlantis.  This mission carried Department of Defense
payloads and a number of secondary payloads.  Following 72 orbits of the Earth
in 106 hours, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards
Air Force Base, California, on March 4, 1990, after traveling 1.87 million
miles.
 
More recently, Thuot was 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, Thuot, along with astronaut
Rick Hieb, performed three space walks which resulted in the capture and repair
of the stranded Intelsat VI F3 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.
 
With the completion of his second mission, Thuot logged over 319 hours in
space, including over 17 hours on three space walks.
 
MAY 1992