To better your understanding of non-clinical career options and/or facilitate your physician career change, today we introduce you to Scott E. Parazynski, MD. This is the second part of a biographical sketch of Dr. Parazynski, who perfrmed a NASA space walk mission this week.
EXPERIENCE: While an undergraduate at Stanford University, Dr. Parazynski studied antigenic variation in African Sleeping Sickness, using sophisticated molecular biological techniques. While in medical school, he was awarded a NASA Graduate Student Fellowship and conducted research at NASA-Ames Research Center on fluid shifts that occur during human space flight. Additionally, he has been involved in the design of several exercise devices that are being developed for long-duration space flight, and has conducted research on high-altitude acclimatization. Dr. Parazynski has numerous publications in the field of space physiology, and has a particular expertise in human adaptation to stressful environments.
NASA EXPERIENCE: Selected as an astronaut in March 1992, Dr. Parazynski reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He completed one year of training and evaluation, and was qualified as a mission specialist. Dr. Parazynski initially served as one of the crew representatives for extravehicular activity (EVA) in the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch. Following his first flight, he was assigned as a backup for the third American long-duration stay aboard Russia’s Space Station Mir, and was expected to serve as a prime crew member on a subsequent mission. He spent 5-months in training at the Gargarin Cosmonaut Training Center, Star City, Russia. In October 1995, when sitting-height parameters raised concerns about his fitting safely in the Soyuz vehicle in the event of an emergency on-board the Mir station, he was deemed too tall for the mission and was withdrawn from Mir training. He served as the Astronaut Office Operations Planning Branch crew representative for Space Shuttle, Space Station and Soyuz training, and also served as Deputy (Operations and Training) of the Astronaut Office ISS Branch. Most recently, he served as Chief of the Astronaut Office EVA Branch. In the aftermath of the Columbia tragedy, he was the Astronaut Office Lead for Space Shuttle Thermal Protection System Inspection and Repair. A veteran of four space flights, STS-66 (1994), STS-86 (1997), STS-95 (1998), and STS-100 (2001), Dr. Parazynski has logged over 1,019 hours (6 weeks) in space, including 20 hours of EVA, and traveled over 17 million miles. Recently reassigned from STS-118 to STS-120, Dr. Parazynski will serve as the Lead Spacewalker (EV1) that delivers the Node 2 connecting module to the International Space Station. The mission will also feature a major EVA/robotic relocation of the P6 Truss during the 2nd and 3rd spacewalks.
SPACE FLIGHT EXPERIENCE: The STS-66 Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science-3 (ATLAS-3) mission was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 3, 1994, and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on November 14, 1994. ATLAS-3 was part of an on-going program to determine the earth’s energy balance and atmospheric change over an 11-year solar cycle, particularly with respect to humanity’s impact on global-ozone distribution. Dr. Parazynski had responsibility for a number of on-orbit activities including operation of the ATLAS experiments and Spacelab Pallet, as well as several secondary experiments in the crew cabin. He and his crewmates also successfully evaluated the Interlimb Resistance Device, a free-floating exercise he developed to prevent musculoskeletal atrophy in microgravity. The Space Shuttle Atlantis circled the earth 175 times and traveled over 4.5 million miles during its 262-hour and 34-minute flight.
STS-86 Atlantis (September 25 to October 6, 1997) was the seventh mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir. Highlights of the mission included the exchange of U.S. crewmembers Mike Foale and David Wolf, the transfer of 10,400 pounds of science and logistics, and the first Shuttle-based joint American-Russian spacewalk. Dr. Parazynski served as the flight engineer (MS2) during the flight, and was also the navigator during the Mir rendezvous. Dr. Parazynski (EV1) and Russian cosmonaut Vladimir Titov performed a 5 hour, 1 minute spacewalk during which they retrieved four experiment packages first deployed during the STS-76 Shuttle-Mir docking mission. They also deployed the Spektr Solar Array Cap, which was designed to be used in a future Mir spacewalk to seal a leak in the Spektr module’s damaged hull. Other objectives of EVA included the evaluation of common EVA tools to be used by astronauts wearing either Russian or American-made spacesuits, and a systems flight test of the Simplified Aid for EVA Rescue (SAFER). The Space Shuttle Atlantis circled the earth 169 times and traveled over 4.2 million miles during its 259-hour and 21-minute flight, landing at the Kennedy Space Center.
STS-95 Discovery (October 29 to November 7, 1998) was a 9-day mission during which the crew supported a variety of research payloads, including deployment of the Spartan solar-observing spacecraft and the testing of the Hubble Space Telescope Orbital Systems Test Platform. The crew also conducted investigations on the correlation between space flight and the aging process. Dr. Parazynski was the flight engineer (MS2) for the mission, as well as the navigator for the Spartan spacecraft rendezvous. During the flight, he also operated the Shuttle’s robotic arm in support of the testing of several space-vision systems being considered for ISS assembly. In addition, he was responsible for monitoring several life sciences investigations, including those involving crewmate Senator John Glenn. The mission was accomplished in 134 earth orbits, traveling 3.6 million miles in 213-hours and 44-minutes.
STS-100 Endeavour (April 19 to May 1, 2001) was the 9th mission to the International Space Station (ISS) Alpha during which the crew successfully delivered and installed the Space Station “Canadarm2” robotic arm, to be used for all future Space Station assembly and maintenance tasks. Dr. Parazynski conducted two spacewalks with Canadian colleague Chris Hadfield to assemble and power the next generation robotic arm. Additionally, the pair installed a new UHF radio antenna for space-to-space communications during Space Shuttle rendezvous and ISS extravehicular activity. A critical on-orbit spare, a direct current switching unit, was also transferred to Alpha during the 14 hours and 50 minutes of EVA work. Also during the flight, Dr. Parazynski operated Endeavour’s robotic arm to install, and later remove, the Italian-built “Raffaello” Multi-Purpose Logistics Module. Traveling 4.9 million miles in 283-hours and 30-minutes, the mission was accomplished in 186 earth orbits.
