George David "Zambo" Zamka (born June 29, 1962) is a former

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the federal government of the United States, US federal government responsible for the United States ...

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...

pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its Aircraft flight control system, directional flight controls. Some other aircrew, aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are al ...

with over 3500 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft. Zamka piloted the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' in its October 2007 mission to the

International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is a large space station that was Assembly of the International Space Station, assembled and is maintained in low Earth orbit by a collaboration of five space agencies and their contractors: NASA (United ...

and served as the commander of mission

STS-130 STS-130 ( ISS assembly flight 20A) was a NASA Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS). 's primary payloads were the ''Tranquility'' module and the ''Cupola'', a robotic control station with six windows around its sides and ...

in February 2010.

Personal

George David Zamka was born in June 29, 1962 at Margaret Hague Hospital in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, second-most populous

. He was raised in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

;

Irvington, New York Irvington, sometimes known as Irvington-on-Hudson, is a suburban Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village of the Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town of Greenburgh, New York, Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, Un ...

; Medellin,

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

; and

Rochester Hills, Michigan Rochester Hills is a city in Oakland County, Michigan, United States. A northern suburb of Metro Detroit, Detroit, Rochester Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the city had a popul ...

. He graduated from

Rochester Adams High School Rochester Adams High School (also known as Adams High School, Adams, or AHS) is a public high school located in Rochester Hills, Michigan, and is part of the Rochester Community Schools district. Academics Rochester Adams High School has b ...

in Michigan in 1980. His personal hobbies include weightlifting, running, bicycling, scuba diving, and boating. Zamka is married and has two children. His extended family resides in Colorado, Mississippi, Georgia, Indiana, Florida and Tennessee. Zamka is of Colombian and Polish ancestry.Astronaut George Zamka in Poland

Military career

Zamka graduated with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

mathematics Mathematics is a field of study that discovers and organizes methods, Mathematical theory, theories and theorems that are developed and Mathematical proof, proved for the needs of empirical sciences and mathematics itself. There are many ar ...

from the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a United States Service academies, federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as United States Secre ...

in 1984. He was then commissioned as a second lieutenant in the

. He received

A-6E Intruder The Grumman A-6 Intruder is a twinjet all-weather subsonic attack aircraft developed and manufactured by American aircraft company Grumman Aerospace. It was formerly operated by the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps. The A-6 was designed in res ...

training at

Naval Air Station Whidbey Island Naval Air Station Whidbey Island (NASWI) is a naval air station of the United States Navy located on two pieces of land near Oak Harbor, Washington, Oak Harbor, on Whidbey Island, in Island County, Washington (state), Washington. The main ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

in 1985–1987. He was assigned to

VMA(AW)-242 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 242 (VMFA-242) is a United States Marine Corps squadron flying F-35, F-35B Lightning II STOVL Stealth Fighter. The squadron, known as the "Bats", is based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and falls under ...

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro and was then adjacent to the city of Irvine. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Av ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. In addition to flight safety and administration, he was a squadron weapons and tactics instructor. In 1990, he trained as an F/A-18D Hornet pilot and was then assigned to

VMFA(AW)-121 Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 121 (VMFA-121), also known as the "Green Knights", is a United States Marine Corps aircraft squadron operating the F-35B Lightning II. The squadron is based at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni, Japan and falls un ...

. Zamka flew 66 combat missions during

Operation Desert Storm Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. In 1993, he was assigned to the

1st Battalion, 5th Marines 1st Battalion, 5th Marines (1/5) is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California consisting of approximately 800 Marines and sailors. Nicknamed ''Geronimo'', it falls under the ...

Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton is the major West Coast base of the United States Marine Corps and is one of the largest Marine Corps bases in the United States. It is on the Southern California coast in San Diego County and is bordered by O ...

, California as a

forward air controller Forward air control is the provision of guidance to close air support (CAS) aircraft intended to ensure that their attack hits the intended target and does not injure friendly troops. This task is carried out by a forward air controller (FAC). ...

. In December 1994, he graduated from the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, following which, he served as an

F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather supersonic, twinjet, twin-engine, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack airc ...

test pilot and operations officer. In 1997, he earned a Masters of Science degree in engineering management from the

Florida Institute of Technology Florida Institute of Technology (Florida Tech or FIT) is a private research university in Melbourne, Florida. The university comprises four academic colleges: Engineering & Science, Aeronautics, Psychology & Liberal Arts, and Business. Approxim ...

. In 1998, he returned to VMFA(AW)-121 and deployed to

MCAS Iwakuni is a joint Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces and United States Marine Corps air station located in the Nishiki river delta, southeast of Iwakuni Station in the city of Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. History The Japanese government ...

, Japan. In August 2010, Zamka retired from the Marine Corps after almost 30 years of distinguished service. he is

chairman of the board The chair, also chairman, chairwoman, or chairperson, is the presiding officer of an organized group such as a Board of directors, board, committee, or deliberative assembly. The person holding the office, who is typically elected or appointed by ...

of the National Association of Spaceports.

NASA career

In June 1998, Zamka was selected for the NASA astronaut program, and reported for training in August. He served as lead for the Shuttle training and procedures division and as supervisor for the astronaut candidate class of 2004. Zamka made his first spaceflight as the pilot of mission

STS-120 STS-120 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) that launched on October 23, 2007, from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The mission is also referred to as ISS-10A by the ISS program. STS-120 delivered the ''Harmony ...

, and second as the commander for

. In March 2013, Zamka decided to retire from NASA. Throughout his NASA career, Zamka flew numerous aircraft; his total number of logged flight hours exceeds 5,000 hours. Zamka in bogota colombia

Honors and awards

Zamka has received the following honors and awards: the

Legion of Merit The Legion of Merit (LOM) is a Awards and decorations of the United States military, military award of the United States Armed Forces that is given for exceptionally meritorious conduct in the performance of outstanding services and achievemen ...

, Distinguished Flying Cross,

Defense Meritorious Service Medal The Defense Meritorious Service Medal (DMSM) is an award bestowed upon members of the United States military by the United States Department of Defense. In the order of precedence of the United States Armed Forces, it is worn between the Purple ...

Meritorious Service Medal A Meritorious Service Medal is an award presented to denote acts of meritorious service, and sometimes gallantry, that are worthy of recognition. Notable medals with similar names include: Singapore *Pingat Jasa Gemilang, or Meritorious Services Me ...

, Navy Strike Air Medal (6),

Navy Commendation Medal The Commendation Medal is a mid-level United States military decoration presented for sustained acts of heroism or meritorious service. Each branch of the United States Armed Forces issues its own version of the Commendation Medal, with a fift ...

with

Combat "V" Combat (French for ''fight'') is a purposeful violent conflict between multiple combatants with the intent to harm the opposition. Combat may be armed (using weapons) or unarmed ( not using weapons). Combat is resorted to either as a method of ...

, and various other military service and campaign awards. Distinguished Graduate, U.S. Naval Academy. Commodore's list and Academic Achievement Award, Training Air Wing Five. Recipient of the

NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal The NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal is awarded to US government employees only for notably outstanding leadership which affects technical or administrative programs of NASA. The leadership award may be given for an act of leadership, for sustain ...

, two

NASA Space Flight Medal The NASA Space Flight Medal is a decoration of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. According to its statutes, it is awarded "for significant achievement or service during individual participation as a civilian or military astronau ...

s, four NASA Superior Accomplishment Awards and the GEM Award. He received also Officer's Cross of the

Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland The Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland () is a Polish order of merit created in 1974, awarded to persons who have rendered great service to Poland. It is granted to foreigners or Poles resident abroad. As such, it is sometimes referred to as ...

(2010).

Promotional activities

In March 2008, Zamka visited Colombia's

Planetarium of Bogotá The Planetarium of Bogotá is a cultural center and planetarium located in the International Center of Bogota, Colombia, within Independence Park. Its dome has a 23-metre screen cupola. Features The Planetarium was built at the initiative of Mayo ...

with the crew of mission

to share their experience as NASA astronauts with 200 students, 50 teachers, and 20 science major experts.http://imagiverse.org/resources/explore/forero.htm Zamka visits Bogota's planetarium

References

:''This article incorporates text in the

public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...

from the

National Aeronautics and Space Administration The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the United States's civil space program, aeronautics research and space research. Established in 1958, it su ...

, a United States government agency.''
NASA Appoints Crew for Space Station Mission
''

UPI United Press International (UPI) is an American international news agency whose newswires, photo, news film, and audio services provided news material to thousands of newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations for most of the 20th ce ...

'', 2006-06-20. Retrieved on 2006-06-25.
Spacefacts biography of George D. Zamka

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zamka, George Living people United States Marine Corps astronauts American people of Polish descent American people of Colombian descent Scientists from Jersey City, New Jersey People from Rochester Hills, Michigan United States Naval Academy alumni U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni Florida Institute of Technology alumni United States Marine Corps colonels United States Naval Aviators United States Marine Corps personnel of the Gulf War American test pilots Recipients of the Legion of Merit Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal Recipients of the Order of Merit of the Republic of Poland People from Irvington, New York 1962 births Space Shuttle program astronauts Hispanic and Latino American scientists Military personnel from New Jersey Military personnel from Michigan Hispanic and Latino American aviators