
PERSONAL
DATA: Born August 24, 1949, in New York City, New York,
but considers San Pedro, California, to be her hometown. Married to
Dr. William F. Fisher of Dallas, Texas. They have two children. She
enjoys snow and water skiing, jogging, flying, scuba diving, reading,
photography, and spending time with her daughters. Her mother, Mrs.
Riley F. Tingle, resides in San Pedro, California. Father, deceased,
July 3, 1982. His mother, Mrs. Russell F. Fisher, resides in Winter
Park, Florida. His father is deceased.
EDUCATION:
Graduated from San Pedro High School, San Pedro, California, in 1967;
received a bachelor of science in Chemistry and a doctor of Medicine
from the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1971 and 1976, respectively;
completed a 1-year internship at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance,
California, in 1977; received a master of science in Chemistry from
the University of California, Los Angeles, in 1987.
SPECIAL
HONORS: Awarded a National Science Foundation Undergraduate
Research Fellowship in 1970, 1971. Graduated from UCLA cum laude and
with honors in chemistry. Recipient of: NASA Space Flight Medal; Lloyd's
of London Silver Medal for Meritorious Salvage Operations; Mother of
the Year Award 1984; UCLA Professional Achievement Award, UCLA Medical
Professional Achievement Award. NASA Exceptional Service Medal, 1999.
EXPERIENCE:
After graduating from UCLA in 1971, Dr. Fisher spent a year in graduate
school in chemistry at UCLA working in the field of x-ray crystallographic
studies of metallocarbonanes. She co-authored 3 publications relating
to these studies for the Journal of Inorganic Chemistry. She began medical
school at UCLA in 1972 and, following graduation in 1976, commenced
a 1-year internship at Harbor General Hospital in Torrance, California.
After completing that internship, she specialized in emergency medicine
and worked in several hospitals in the Los Angeles area.
NASA
EXPERIENCE: Dr. Fisher was selected as an astronaut
candidate by NASA in January 1978. In August 1979, she completed a one
year training and evaluation period, making her eligible for assignment
as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Following
the one-year basic training program Dr. Fisher's early NASA assignments
(pre-STS-1 through STS-4) included the following: Crew representative
to support development and testing of the Remote Manipulator System
(RMS); Crew representative to support development and testing of payload
bay door contingency EVA procedures, the extra-small Extravehicular
Mobility Unit (EMU), and contingency on-orbit TPS repair hardware and
procedures; Verification of flight software at the Shuttle Avionics
Integration Laboratory (SAIL) -- in that capacity she reviewed test
requirements and procedures for ascent, on-orbit, and RMS software verification
and served as a crew evaluator for verification and development testing
for STS-2, 3 and 4. For STS-5 through STS-7 Dr. Fisher was assigned
as a crew representative to support vehicle integrated testing and payload
testing at KSC. In addition, Dr. Fisher supported each Orbital Flight
Test (STS 1-4) launch and landing (at either a prime or backup site)
as a physician in the rescue helicopters, and provided both medical
& operational inputs to the development of rescue procedures. Dr.
Fisher was also an on-orbit CAPCOM for the STS-9 mission. Dr. Fisher
was a mission specialist on STS-51A which launched from Kennedy Space
Center, Florida, on November 8, 1984. She was accompanied by Captain
Frederick (Rick) Hauck (spacecraft commander), Captain David M. Walker
(pilot), and fellow mission specialists, Dr. Joseph P. Allen, and Commander
Dale H. Gardner. This was the second flight of the orbiter Discovery.
During the mission the crew deployed two satellites, Canada's Anik D-2
(Telesat H) and Hughes' LEASAT-1 (Syncom IV-1), and operated the Radiation
Monitoring Equipment (RME) device, and the 3M Company's Diffusive Mixing
of Organic Solutions (DMOS) experiment. In the first space salvage mission
in history the crew also retrieved for return to earth the Palapa B-2
and Westar VI satellites. STS-51A completed 127 orbits of the Earth
before landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 16, 1984.
With the completion of her first flight, Dr. Fisher has logged a total
of 192 hours in space. Dr. Fisher was assigned as a mission specialist
on STS-61H prior to the Challenger accident. Following the accident
she worked as the Deputy of the Mission Development Branch of the Astronaut
Office, and as the astronaut office representative for Flight Data File
issues. In that capacity she served as the crew representative on the
Crew Procedures Change Board. Dr. Fisher served on the Astronaut Selection
Board for the 1987 class of astronauts. Dr. Fisher also served in the
Space Station Support Office where she worked part-time in the Space
Station Operations Branch. She was the crew representative supporting
space station development in the areas of training, operations concepts,
and the health maintenance facility. Dr. Fisher returned to the Astronaut
Office in 1996 after an extended leave of absence to raise her family
(1989-1996). When she first returned to the Astronaut Office, she was
assigned to the Operations Planning Branch to work on the Operational
Flight Data File (procedures) and training issues in support of the
International Space Station. She served as the Branch Chief of the Operations
Planning Branch from June 1997-June 1998. Following a reorganization
of the Astronaut office, she was assigned as the Deputy for Operations/Training
of the Space Station Branch from June 1998-June 1999. In that capacity,
she had oversight responsibility for Astronaut Office inputs to the
Space Station Program on issues regarding operations, procedures, and
training for the ISS. She currently serves as the Chief of the Space
Station Branch of the Astronaut Office and has oversight responsibility
for 40-50 astronauts and support engineers. In that capacity, she coordinates
all astronaut inputs to the Space Station Program Office on issues regarding
the design, development, and testing of space station hardware. Additionally,
she coordinates all Astronaut Office inputs to Space Station operations,
procedures, and training and works with the International Partners to
negotiate common design requirements and standards for displays and
procedures. As Chief of the Space Station Branch, she serves as the
Astronaut Office representative on numerous Space Station Program Boards
and Multilateral Boards. Following completion of this assignment, she
looks forward to assignment as either a Space Shuttle crewmember on
a Space Station assembly mission or as a crewmember aboard the International
Space Station.
FEBRUARY
2000