Astronaut Biography: Nicholas J. M. Patrick

NASA astronaut Nicholas Patrick poses for photo portrait. CREDIT: NASA/JSC.

NAME: Nicholas J. M. Patrick (Ph.D., P.E.)
NASA Astronaut

PERSONAL DATA: Dr. Patrick was born in 1964 in North Yorkshire in the United Kingdom, but considers London, England and Rye, New York to be his hometowns. He became a U.S. Citizen in 1994. His mother, Gillian Patrick, lives in Connecticut; his father, Stewart Patrick, in Pennsylvania. He is married. His recreational interests include flying, reading, fixing & building things, scuba diving, and Tae Kwon Do.

EDUCATION: Harrow School, London, England, 1978-82.

B.A., Engineering, University of Cambridge, England, 1986.
M.A. Cantab., Engineering, University of Cambridge, England, 1990.
S.M., Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1990.
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1996.

ORGANIZATIONS: Dr Patrick is a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association, and is a registered Professional Engineer (Mechanical).

SPECIAL HONORS: Entrance scholarship ('Exhibition') to the University of Cambridge (Trinity College), 1983; GE Aircraft Engines Development Program Project Award for contributions to manufacturing inventory reduction, 1988; JSC Center Director's Discretionary Award for contributions to the user-interface of the space shuttle's Cockpit Avionics Upgrade, 2002.

Dr. Patrick holds three patents in the areas of telerobotics, display design, and integrated aircraft alerting systems.

EXPERIENCE: While at university, Dr. Patrick learned to fly as a member of the Royal Air Force's Cambridge University Air Squadron, and spent his summers as a civil engineer in New York and Connecticut. After graduating from Cambridge, he moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked as an engineer for the Aircraft Engines Division of GE.

He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he was a teaching assistant and then a research assistant in the Human-Machine Systems Lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. His research interests included telerobotics, aviation psychology, decision theory, optimization, and econometrics. While at MIT, he worked as a flight instructor at Hanscom Field and as a statistician and programmer for a medical and robotic products company.

Upon completion of his doctorate, Dr. Patrick joined Boeing's Commercial Airplane Group in Seattle, Washington, where he worked in Flight Deck Engineering as a systems and human-factors engineer on many of Boeing's commercial aircraft models.

Dr. Patrick has logged over 1,900 hours as a pilot in more than 20 types of airplane and helicopter, including over 800 hours as a flight instructor in the Boston, Seattle, and Houston areas.

NASA EXPERIENCE: Dr Patrick reported to NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC) for astronaut training in August 1998. His initial training included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Station systems, and physiological, survival, and classroom training in preparation for T-38 flight.

Dr. Patrick is currently assigned to the crew of STS-116 - a construction and logistics mission to the International Space Station - scheduled for launch in December 2006.

Last updated: July 2006

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