NAME:  Claude Nicollier (Mr.)
       ESA Astronaut
 
BIRTHPLACE AND DATE:  Born September 2, 1944, in Vevey, Switzerland.
His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Georges Nicollier, reside in La Tour de
Peilz, Switzerland.
 
PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:  Brown hair; blue-green eyes; 5 feet 10 inches;
144 pounds.
 
EDUCATION:  Graduated from Gymnase de Lausanne (high school),
Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1962; received a bachelor of science in
physics from the University of Lausanne in 1970 and a master of
science degree in astrophysics from the University of Geneva in 1975.
 
MARITAL STATUS:  Married to the former Susana Perez of Monterrey,
Mexico.  Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Jose L. Perez, reside in
Guadalajara, Mexico.
 
CHILDREN:  Maya, July 19, 1974; and Marina, June 15, 1978.
 
RECREATIONAL INTERESTS:  He enjoys playing alphorn, snow skiing,
mountain climbing, flying, and photography.
 
ORGANIZATIONS:  Member of the Swiss Astronomical Society, the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific, and the Swiss Air Force Officer's
Society.  Fellow of the British Interplanetary Society.
 
EXPERIENCE:  From 1970 to 1973 Claude worked as a graduate scientist
with the Institute of Astronomy at Lausanne University and at the
Geneva Observatory.  His research concerned the photometric
classification of supergiant stars.  He then joined the Swiss Air
Transport School in Zurich and was assigned as a DC-9 pilot for
Swissair, concurrently participating part-time in research activities
of the Geneva Observatory.  At the end of 1976, he accepted a
Fellowship at the European Space Agency's (ESA) Space Science
Department at Noordwijk, Netherlands, where he worked as a research
scientist in various airborne infrared astronomy programs.  In July
1978 he was selected by ESA as one of the three European payload
specialists to train for the Spacelab-1 mission.  He trained for two
years on the scientific payload of Spacelab-1 then, under agreement
between ESA and NASA, he joined the NASA astronaut candidates selected
in May 1980 for astronaut training as a mission specialist.
 
His technical assignments in the Astronaut Office have included flight
software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory
(SAIL), participation in the development of retrieval techniques for
the Tethered Satellite System (TSS) in the Shuttle Engineering
Simulator (SES),and Space Station Freedom program support.  In
September 1985 he was assigned as a mission specialist on STS 61-K,
which was canceled after the Challenger accident.  During 1988 he
attended the Empire Test Pilot's School in Boscombe Down, England,
from where he graduated as a Test Pilot in December 1988.
 
Claude holds a commission as Captain in the Swiss Air Force and,
during leave periods in Switzerland, flies Northrop F-5E's and Hawker
Hunters in ground attack and close air support roles.  He has logged
4,300 hours flying time -- including 2,700 hours in jet aircraft.
 
CURRENT ASSIGNMENT:  In September 1989, Claude was assigned as a
mission specialist on the crew of STS-46.  During this seven day
mission the crew will deploy the European Retrievable Carrier
(EURECA), an ESA-sponsored free-flying science platform, and will also
operate the Tethered Satellite System (TSS), a joint project between
NASA and the Italian Space Agency.  STS-46 is scheduled for launch in
the summer of l992.
 
APRIL 1992