Kathryn P. Hire

Kathryn Patricia "Kay" Hire (born August 26, 1959) is a former NASA astronaut and retired Captain in the U.S. Navy Reserve who has flown aboard two Space Shuttle missions.

Education Born in Mobile, Alabama, she attended St. Pius X Catholic Elementary School and Murphy High School.

Selected by NASA in December 1994, Hire reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. After a year of training, she worked in mission control as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM). Hire flew as Mission Specialist-2 on STS-90 Neurolab (1998) and logged over 381 hours in space. She served as the Astronaut Office Lead for Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL), Shuttle Payloads, and Flight Crew Equipment. Hire was assigned to the Astronaut Support Personnel (ASP) team for Kennedy Space Center Operations. She then journeyed to the International Space Station as a mission specialist for Space Shuttle mission STS-130.

Space flight experience STS-90 Neurolab (April 17 – May 3, 1998). During the 16-day Spacelab flight, the seven-member crew aboard Space Shuttle Columbia served as both experimental subjects and operators for 26 life science experiments focusing on the effects of microgravity on the brain and nervous system. The STS-90 flight orbited the Earth 256 times and covered 6.3 million miles.

STS-130 (February 8, 2010 – February 21, 2010) She also journeyed to the International Space Station as a mission specialist for Space Shuttle mission STS-130.

As of June 2018, Hire was considered a "NASA Management Astronaut", which meant that she was employed at NASA but was no longer eligible for spaceflight assignments.

On February 28, 2019, Hire retired from NASA.

Organizations Association of Space Explorers Association of Naval Aviation Institute of Navigation Naval Reserve Association U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association U.S. Sailing Association

Special honors

Defense Superior Service Medal Meritorious Service Medal (3) Joint Service Commendation Medal Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal National Defense Service Medal (2) Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal War on Terrorism Service Medal Armed Forces Reserve Medal with bronze "M" Device and silver Hourglass Device NASA Space Flight Medal