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Karlos NoriegaUS Naval Aviation Lieutenant Colonel, American astronaut.
Date of Birth: 08.10.1959
Country:  USA |
Content:
Biography of Carlos Noriega
Carlos Noriega, a Lieutenant Colonel in the United States Marine Corps and an American astronaut, was born in Santa Clara, California. He is married to Wendy Thatcher and they have five children.
Education and Military Career
Noriega graduated from Adrian Wilcox High School in Santa Clara in 1977. He then went on to earn a bachelor's degree in Computer Science from the University of Southern California in 1981. In 1990, he obtained a master's degree in Computer Science and Space Systems.
After completing his education, Noriega joined the Marine Corps and graduated from flight school. From 1983 to 1985, he served as a helicopter pilot in the Marine Corps on the Hawaiian Islands. He participated in two six-month long deployments in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.
In 1986, Noriega was transferred to Tustin, California, where he continued his service as a flight safety officer and flight instructor. From 1988 to 1990, he attended the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. After completing his studies, he served in the United States Space Command in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He later served in Okinawa, Japan.
Astronaut Career
Noriega has accumulated approximately 2,200 flight hours on helicopters and airplanes. In December 1994, he was selected as a candidate astronaut and began training at the Johnson Space Center in May 1995. In May 1996, he became an astronaut mission specialist.
Noriega completed two space missions as part of the Space Shuttle program. He served as a mission specialist on the Atlantis STS-84 mission in 1997 and the Endeavour STS-97 mission in 2000. Noriega conducted three spacewalks during his career. He was also a backup commander for the sixth long-duration expedition to the International Space Station.
Although Noriega was initially assigned to the Discovery STS-121 mission, he was later replaced by Pierce Sellers due to health reasons. In total, Noriega has spent 20 days, 1 hour, and 18 minutes in space. The duration of his three spacewalks amounted to 19 hours and 20 minutes.
