John Lynch Phillips (born April 15, 1951) is a
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 ...
. Phillips is also a
Naval Aviator
Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use.
Seaborne aviation encompas ...
and retired
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
,
United States Navy Reserve
The United States Navy Reserve (USNR), known as the United States Naval Reserve from 1915 to 2004, is the Reserve Component (RC) of the United States Navy. Members of the Navy Reserve, called reservists, are categorized as being in either the S ...
. Phillips has received numerous awards and special honors. He is a
National Merit Scholar
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit ...
, graduated 2nd in his class of 906 people at the
U.S. Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...
in 1972. Phillips has also been awarded the
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 ...
,
NASA Distinguished Service Medal
The NASA Distinguished Service Medal is the highest award that can be bestowed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States. The medal may be presented to any member of the federal government, including both milita ...
, the Gagarin Medal and several others. Phillips has logged over 4,400 flight hours and 250 aircraft carrier landings, flying the
A-7 Corsair II
The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV).
The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design wa ...
carrier-based light attack aircraft while on active duty in the Regular Navy and subsequently during his time as a Navy Reservist from 1982 to 2002. At the time of his retirement, Phillips had retained the rank of captain.
Biography
Born April 15, 1951, in
Fort Belvoir, Virginia
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...
, but considers
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...
to be his hometown. He is married to the former Laura Jean Doell of
Scotia, New York
Scotia is a village in Schenectady County, New York, United States, incorporated in 1904. The population was 7,272 at the 2020 census. Scotia is part of the town of Glenville, and is connected with the city of Schenectady by the Western Gatewa ...
. They have two children.
Graduated from
Scottsdale High School
Scottsdale High School was a high school in Scottsdale, Arizona, located at Indian School Road and 74th Street. It opened in 1923 and closed in May 1983. The school site was demolished, and the land was redeveloped for commercial use.
The schoo ...
,
Scottsdale, Arizona
Scottsdale is a city in eastern Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, and is part of the Phoenix metropolitan area. Named Scottsdale in 1894 after its founder Winfield Scott (chaplain), Winfield Scott, a retired Chaplain Corps (United States ...
, in 1966; received a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and
Russian
Russian(s) may refer to:
*Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries
*A citizen of Russia
*Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages
*''The Russians'', a b ...
from the
U.S. Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...
in 1972; a Master of Science degree in aeronautical systems from the
University of West Florida
The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Established in 1963 as a member institution of the State University System of Florida, the University of West Florida is a comprehe ...
in 1974; a Master of Science degree and a doctorate in geophysics and space physics from the
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...
(UCLA) in 1984 and 1987 respectively.
A
National Merit Scholar
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships. The program is managed by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded not-for-profit ...
; he graduated second of 906 in the class of 1972 at U.S. Naval Academy; received 2 NASA Group Achievement Awards for contributions to the
Ulysses Spacecraft Mission and the
Los Alamos National Laboratory
Los Alamos National Laboratory (often shortened as Los Alamos and LANL) is one of the sixteen research and development Laboratory, laboratories of the United States Department of Energy National Laboratories, United States Department of Energy ...
Distinguished Performance Award in 1996. Awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal and various military awards.
Phillips received a commission as an
ensign
Ensign most often refers to:
* Ensign (flag), a flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality
* Ensign (rank), a navy (and former army) officer rank
Ensign or The Ensign may also refer to:
Places
* Ensign, Alberta, Alberta, Canada
* Ensign, Ka ...
in the
U.S. Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest displacement, at 4.5 million tons in 2021. It has the world's largest aircraft ...
upon graduation from the
U.S. Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy (USNA, Navy, or Annapolis) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy is the sec ...
in 1972 and was designated a
Naval Aviator
Naval aviation / Aeronaval is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases.
It often involves '' navalised aircraft'', specifically designed for naval use.
Seaborne aviation encompas ...
in November 1974, concurrent with his completion of an MS degree in aeronautical systems from the
University of West Florida
The University of West Florida (West Florida or UWF) is a public university in Pensacola, Florida, United States. Established in 1963 as a member institution of the State University System of Florida, the University of West Florida is a comprehe ...
. He trained in the
A-7 Corsair
The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV).
The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...
aircraft at
Naval Air Station Lemoore
Naval Air Station Lemoore or NAS Lemoore is a United States Navy base, located in Kings County, California, Kings County and Fresno County, California, Fresno County, California, United States. Lemoore Station, California, Lemoore Station, a cen ...
,
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 ...
and made overseas deployment with
Attack Squadron 155 (VA-155) aboard the
aircraft carrier
An aircraft carrier is a warship that serves as a seagoing airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and hangar facilities for supporting, arming, deploying and recovering carrier-based aircraft, shipborne aircraft. Typically it is the ...
s and . Subsequent tours of duty included Navy Recruiting Command duty in
Albany, New York
Albany ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. It is located on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River. Albany is the oldes ...
, and flying the
CT-39 Sabreliner aircraft at
Naval Air Station North Island
Naval Air Station North Island or NAS North Island , at the north end of the Coronado peninsula on San Diego Bay in San Diego, California, is part of the largest aerospace-industrial complex in the United States Navy – Naval Base Coronado (N ...
, California.
After leaving the Regular Navy and transferring to the Naval Reserve in 1982, Phillips enrolled as a graduate student at UCLA. While at UCLA he carried out research involving observations by the NASA
Pioneer Venus Spacecraft. Upon completing his doctorate in 1987, he was awarded a J. Robert Oppenheimer Postdoctoral Fellowship at Los Alamos National Laboratory in
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona. It also ...
. He accepted a career position at Los Alamos in 1989. While there, Phillips performed research on the sun and the space environment. From 1993 through 1996 he was Principal Investigator for the Solar Wind Plasma Experiment aboard the Ulysses Spacecraft as it executed a unique trajectory over the poles of the sun. He has authored 156 scientific papers dealing with the
plasma environments of the sun, earth, other planets, comets and spacecraft.
Phillips has logged over 4,400 flight hours and 250 carrier landings. He was a Navy Reservist from 1982 to 2002, serving as an A-7 pilot, and in various non-flying assignments. He holds the rank of captain, USN (retired).
[
]
NASA
Selected by NASA in April 1996, Phillips reported to the Johnson Space Center
The Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center (JSC) is NASA's center for human spaceflight in Houston, Texas (originally named the Manned Spacecraft Center), where human spaceflight training, research, and flight controller, flight control are conducted. ...
in August 1996. After completing astronaut candidate training, he held various jobs in the Astronaut Office, including systems engineering and CAPCOM for 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 ...
(ISS). He served as a backup crew-member for ISS Expedition 7
Expedition 7 was the seventh expedition to the International Space Station.
Crew
Planned crew before ''Columbia'' disaster
Mission parameters
*Perigee: 384 km
*Apogee: 396 km
*Inclination: 51.6°
* Period: 92 min
Mission obje ...
.
Spaceflight experience
STS-100
STS-100 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Endeavour''. STS-100 launch on 19 April 2001, and installed the ISS Canadarm2 robotic arm.
Crew
Mission highlights
The highest priori ...
(Space Shuttle Endeavour
Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'' (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-105) is a retired Space Shuttle orbiter, orbiter from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the fifth and final operational Space Shuttle, Shuttle built. It embarked on its first mission, ...
, April 19 to May 1, 2001).
STS-100 was a 12-day mission to the ISS. During the mission, the crew successfully delivered and installed the Canadarm2
The Mobile Servicing System (MSS) is a robotic system on board the International Space Station (ISS). Launched to the ISS in 2001, it plays a key role in station assembly and maintenance; it moves equipment and supplies around the station, suppo ...
Robotic Arm. They also delivered experiments and supplies aboard the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module
A Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) is a large pressurized container that was used on Space Shuttle missions to transfer cargo to and from the International Space Station (ISS). Two MPLMs made a dozen trips in the Shuttle cargo bay and initi ...
Raffaello on its maiden flight. Phillips was the Ascent/Entry Flight engineer and was the intravehicular activity coordinator during two spacewalks.
Expedition 11
Expedition 11 was the 11th long-duration expedition to the International Space Station. The crew arrived and departed aboard Soyuz TMA-6, which stayed at the station for the duration of the expedition in case it was needed for emergency evacua ...
(April 15 to October 11, 2005).
Expedition 11 was a six-month mission to the ISS.
On April 15, 2005, Phillips, along with his fellow crew-members Sergei Krikalev
Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev (, also transliterated as Sergei Krikalyov; born 27 August 1958) is a Russian mechanical engineer and former cosmonaut and head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
As a prominent rocket scientist, he ...
, and Roberto Vittori
Brigadier Roberto Vittori, OMRI (born 15 October 1964, in Viterbo) is an Italian Air Force officer and an ESA astronaut. After graduating from the Italian Accademia Aeronautica in 1989, Vittori flew in the Italian Air Force. He then trained as a ...
launched to the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-6
Soyuz TMA-6 was a human spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). It carried three crew members of Expedition 11 to the International Space Station. It was the 26th crewed flight to the ISS. It was launched by a Soyuz FG
and returne ...
.
On June 14, 2005, Phillips became the first person to testify before Congress from the ISS, or outer space in general. He gave testimony to the United States House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...
Science Space Subcommittee via a live video feed. The hearing was to evaluate the space station's usefulness as an orbiting laboratory.
On August 18, 2005, Phillips and Krikalev completed a five-hour spacewalk to retrieve several experiments and install a video camera for the new docking procedure.
Phillips and Krikalev, along with Space Flight Participant Gregory Olsen
Gregory Hammond Olsen (born April 20, 1945) is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventu ...
, returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-6 on October 11, 2005.
STS-119
STS-119 ( ISS assembly flight 15A) was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) which was flown by Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' during March 2009. It was Discovery's 36th flight. It delivered and assembled the fourth star ...
(Space Shuttle Discovery
Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' (Orbiter Vehicle Designation: OV-103) is a retired American Space Shuttle orbiter. The spaceplane was one of the Space Shuttle orbiter, orbiters from NASA's Space Shuttle program and the third of five fully opera ...
, March 15 to 28, 2009).
STS-119 was a 12-day mission to the ISS flown during March 2009. It delivered and assembled the fourth starboard Integrated Truss Segment (S6), and the fourth set of solar arrays and batteries to the station. The launch took place on March 15, 2009. Discovery successfully landed on March 28, 2009.
Phillips was detailed to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, from 2009 to 2011 as the Smith/McCool NASA Chair Professor.
Awards and decorations
References
External links
CNN report on House testimony
{{DEFAULTSORT:Phillips, John L.
1951 births
American astronauts
Living people
United States Naval Academy alumni
United States Navy officers
United States Navy reservists
United States Naval Aviators
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
Crew members of the International Space Station
Los Alamos National Laboratory personnel
People from Fort Belvoir, Virginia
People from Scottsdale, Arizona
Space Shuttle program astronauts
Spacewalkers