Leestma joined the
U.S Naval Sea Cadet Corps in 8th grade. Leestma said that "[Sea Cadets] was my first experience with the military service and it appealed to me... [Sea Cadets] was the beginning of this journey with the Navy that has been a lifetime experience."
NASA experience He was selected by
NASA to become an astronaut in 1980 and was the first member of
NASA Astronaut Group 9 to go into space. Following his first flight, Leestma served as a capsule communicator (
CAPCOM) for
STS-51-C through
STS-61-A. He was then assigned as the Chief, Mission Development Branch, responsible for assessing the operational integration requirements of payloads that will fly aboard the
Space Shuttle. From February 1990 to September 1991, when he started training for his third space mission, Leestma served as deputy director of Flight Crew Operations. Following this flight, he served as Deputy Chief and Acting
Chief of the Astronaut Office. Leestma was selected as the Director, Flight Crew Operations Directorate, in November 1992. As Director, FCOD, he had overall responsibility for the Astronaut Office and for
Johnson Space Center (JSC) Aircraft Operations. During his tenure as Director, 41 Shuttle flights and 7
Mir missions were successfully flown. He was responsible for the selection of
Astronaut Groups 15,
16 and
17. While director, he oversaw the requirements, development modifications of the
T-38A transition to the T-38N avionics upgrades. In September 1998, Leestma was reassigned as the deputy director, Engineering, in charge of the management of Johnson Space Center Government Furnished Equipment (GFE) Projects. In August 2001 he was assigned as the JSC Project Manager for the Space Launch Initiative, responsible for all JSC work related to the development of the new launch system. Leestma is currently serving as the Assistant Program Manager for the
Orbital Space Plane Program, responsible for the vehicle systems and operations of the new crewed vehicle that is to serve as the transfer vehicle for space flight crews to and from the
International Space Station. A veteran of three space flights, Leestma has logged a total of 532.7 hours in space. He was a mission specialist on STS-41-G (October 5–13, 1984), STS-28 (August 8–13, 1989), and STS-45 (March 24 to April 2, 1992).
Space flight experience STS-41-G Challenger, launched from
Kennedy Space Center,
Florida, on October 5, 1984. It was the sixth flight of the orbiter
Challenger and the thirteenth flight of the Space Shuttle system. The seven-person crew also included two payload specialists: one from Canada, and one Navy
oceanographer. During the mission, the crew deployed the ERBS satellite using the
Remote Manipulator System (RMS), operated the OSTA-3 payload (including the
SIR-B radar, FILE, and MAPS experiments) and the Large Format Camera (LFC), conducted a satellite refueling demonstration using
hydrazine fuel with the Orbital Refueling System (ORS), and conducted numerous in-cabin experiments as well as activating eight "Getaway Special" canisters. Dave Leestma and
Kathryn Sullivan successfully conducted a 3½ hour extravehicular activity (EVA) to demonstrate the feasibility of actual satellite refueling.
STS-28 Columbia, launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 8, 1989. The mission carried
Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. After 80 orbits of the Earth, this five-day mission concluded with a lakebed landing on Runway 17 at
Edwards Air Force Base, California, on August 13, 1989.
STS-45 Atlantis, launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on March 24, 1992. During the nine-day mission, the crew operated the twelve experiments that constituted the ATLAS-1 (Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science) cargo. ATLAS-1 obtained a vast array of detailed measurements of atmospheric, chemical and physical properties, which will contribute significantly to improving our understanding of our climate and atmosphere. STS-45 landed on April 2, 1992, on Runway 33 at the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, after completing 142 orbits of the Earth. ==References==