Ed Campion

Headquarters, Washington, D.C.

July 6, 1994
(Phone: 202/358-1778)

Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 713/483-5111)

RELEASE: 94-110

SHUTTLE ASTRONAUT RICHARD COVEY TO LEAVE NASA, AIR FORCE

Richard O. Covey, (Colonel, USAF), a veteran of four Space

Shuttle flights, including last year's mission to service the
Hubble Space Telescope, will leave NASA effective July 11 and
retire from the U.S. Air Force on August 1.

After 16 years with NASA as an astronaut, Covey is joining

Calspan Services Contracts Division, an operating unit of Space
Industries, Inc., as Director of Business Development in Houston.

Selected as a member of the astronaut class of 1978, Covey has

flown four times on the Shuttle. He flew twice aboard Discovery
on STS-51-I and STS-26, once on the STS-38 mission of Atlantis and
Endeavour's STS-61 flight.

Prior to his first flight, Covey provided astronaut support in

Orbiter engineering development and testing. He was a T-38 chase
pilot for the second and third Shuttle flights and served as a
spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control during several
other missions.

His first Shuttle flight (STS-51-I) was in August 1985 and

included deployment of three communications satellites and the
retrieval, repair and redeployment of another. Covey's second
mission (STS-26) in September 1988 was the first following the
Challenger accident and included deployment of a NASA
communications satellite. The STS-38 mission was a dedicated
Department of Defense flight in November 1990 and was Covey's
third spaceflight.

Covey most recently commanded the STS-61 mission in December 1993

which included five spacewalks to service and repair the Hubble
Space Telescope for the first time.

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 "Dick's dedication to this nation's space effort is an asset we
will miss," said David C. Leestma, director of Flight Crew
Operations at the Johnson Space Center. "Since being selected as
part of the first group of astronauts chosen for the Space Shuttle
program in 1978, Dick has proven his worth to the aerospace
community with near unparalleled leadership and will no doubt
succeed in all of his future endeavors."

Covey has flown more than 30 different types of aircraft

accumulating over 5,700 hours of flight time. Between 1970 and
1974, he was an operational fighter pilot flying F-100, A-37 and
the A-7D. He flew 339 combat missions during two tours in
Southeast Asia. Prior to being selected as an astronaut, Covey
was an F-4 and A-7D weapons system test pilot and joint test force
director for electronic warfare testing of the F-15 Eagle at Eglin
Air Force Base in Florida between 1975 and 1978.

From Fort Walton Beach, Florida, Covey, 47, graduated from the
U.S. Air Force Academy with a bachelor of science degree in
engineering sciences and a major in astronautical engineering in
1968. He received a master of science degree in aeronautics and
astronautics from Purdue University in 1969.

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