From: baalke@zagami.jpl.nasa.gov   
      
   Dolores Beasley   
   Headquarters, Washington                   August 18, 2003   
   (Phone: 202/358-1753)   
      
   RELEASE: 03-270   
      
   NASA SELECTS INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION PROGRAM SCIENTIST   
      
        NASA today named Dr. Donald A. Thomas as the new   
   International Space Station Program Scientist for the agency.   
      
   As International Space Station Program Scientist, Thomas will   
   be based at Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston. He will work   
   with principal investigators and the Station program office   
   to ensure scientific and engineering requirements are clearly   
   communicated among the participants. He will serve as the   
   science spokesman for the Program to the scientific and   
   international research communities and the general public.   
      
   "Don has a unique and very diverse background which makes him   
   an excellent choice for this position," said Mary Kicza,   
   Associate Administrator for the Office of Biological and   
   Physical Research at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "His   
   experiences as a materials science researcher in industry   
   prior to joining NASA and his scientific and management   
   accomplishments since becoming an astronaut will serve the   
   Space Station program extremely well, as we optimize the   
   available research opportunities and move forward toward   
   assembly and completion of the Station," she said.   
      
   A veteran of four space flights, Thomas came to NASA from   
   Lockheed Engineering and Sciences Company in Houston. His   
   responsibilities involved reviewing materials used in Space   
   Shuttle payloads. In 1988 he joined JSC as a Materials   
   Engineer. His work involved projections for advanced   
   composite materials for use on Space Station Freedom. He was   
   also a Principal Investigator for the Microgravity   
   Disturbances Experiment, a middeck crystal growth experiment   
   that flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-32) in January   
   1990.   
      
   Thomas became an astronaut in July 1991. Three of his four   
   flights were on Spacelab research missions. In July 1994, on   
   Columbia (STS-65), the second International Microgravity   
   Laboratory mission, the crew conducted more than 80   
   experiments focusing on materials and life sciences research   
   in microgravity. As a mission specialist during the   
   Microgravity Science Laboratory Spacelab mission, he focused   
   on materials and combustion science research in microgravity.   
      
   He has served in the Safety, Operations Development and   
   Payloads Branches of the Astronaut Office, and was Director   
   of Operations for NASA at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training   
   Center in Star City, Russia.   
      
   Thomas will succeed Neal Pellis, the first International   
   Space Station Program Scientist. "Neal's leadership was   
   impressive and admirable," Kicza said. "We appreciated his   
   ability to provide guidance regarding the various Station   
   research priorities and wish him the best, as he returns to   
   his important research at JSC." In July, Pellis became   
   Associate Director, Biological Sciences and Applications   
   Office at JSC.   
      
   For information about NASA and International Space Station   
   science on the Internet, visit:   
      
   http://www.nasa.gov   
      
   For information about Thomas on the Internet visit:   
      
   http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/thomas-d.html   
      
   -end-   
      
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