FREDERICK H. (RICK) HAUCK (PRONOUNCED HOWK) 

(CAPTAIN, U.S. NAVY, RETIRED)

NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)

PERSONAL DATA: Born April 11, 1941, in Long Beach, California. His parents were 

the late Captain and Mrs. Philip F. Hauck. During his spare time, he enjoys skiing, 

sailing, kayaking, tennis, and working on his 1958 Corvette. Hauck is married to Susan 

Cameron Bruce. Together they have five children and seven grandchildren. 

EDUCATION: Graduated from St. Albans School in Washington, D.C. in 1958; received a 

Bachelor of Science in Physics from Tufts University in 1962 and a Master of Science in 

Nuclear Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1966; graduate of

U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in 1971. 

MEMBERSHIPS, BOARDS, & PANELS: Fellow, Society of Experimental Test Pilots; 

Fellow, American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA); Fellow, American 

Astronautical Society (AAS); Board of Trustees, Tufts University (1987 to 2002, Emeritus 

2003); Board of Governors, St. Albans School (1989 to 1995); Association of Space 

Explorers (Vice President, 1991 to 1993; Board of Directors, 2000 to 2006); Technical Advisor to The Synthesis Group on America’s 

Space Exploration Initiative (1990 to 1991); Commercial Space Transportation Advisory Committee (COMSTAC), Department of 

Transportation (1992 to 1999); Chair, COMSTAC Task Group on Russian Entry into Commercial Space Markets (1992); NASA 

Commercial Programs Advisory Committee (1991 to 1992); Department of Commerce U.S. Space Commerce Mission to Russia 

(1992); NASA Mission Review Task Group (Space Salvage) (1992); General Dynamics Atlas Failure Review Oversight Boards (1992

and 1993); U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment Advisory Panel on National Space Transportation Policy (1994 to 1995); 

Chair, NASA External Independent Readiness Review Team for Second Hubble Space Telescope Servicing Mission (1995 to 1997); 

National Research Council (NRC) Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board (1996 to 2002); NRC Committee on International Space 

Station Meteoroid/Debris Risk Management (1995 to 1996); Chair, NRC Committee on Space Shuttle Meteoroid/Debris Risk 

Management (1997); Boeing Space Launch Mission Assurance Review Team (1999); External Program Assessment Team for NASA 

2nd Generation Reusable Launch Vehicle Program, Space Launch Initiative and Orbital Space Plane (2000 to 2004); Chair, NRC 

Committee on Precursor Measurements Necessary to Support Human Operations on the Surface of Mars (2001 to 2002); Board of 

Directors, Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (2003 to date); Board of Directors, AAS (1997 to 2000); Chair, Arts and Sciences Board 

of Overseers, Tufts University (1997 to 2002); External Visiting Committee, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Stanford 

University (2001); Advisory Council, Institute of Nuclear Power Operations (2005 to 2010); Board of Directors, U.S. Space 

Foundation (2005 to date); NASA Advisory Council (2005 to 2010); Space Analyst and Commentator, NBC News (2005 to 2007); 

Board Member, The Cianbro Companies (2010 to date).

SPECIAL HONORS: Two Department of Defense Distinguished Service Medals; the NASA Distinguished Service Medal; the 

NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership; the Defense Superior Service Medal; the Legion of Merit; the Distinguished Flying Cross; 

the Air Medal (9); the Navy Commendation Medal with Gold Star and Combat V; the NASA Exceptional Public Service Medal; the 

NASA Space Flight Medal (3); Doctor of Public Service (honoris causa) from Tufts University; National Associate of the National 

Academies; U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame; the Navy’s Outstanding Test Pilot Award; the Presidential Cost Saving Commendation; the 

AIAA Haley Space Flight Award; Lloyd’s of London Silver Medal for Meritorious Service; two AAS Flight Achievement Awards; 

the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal; the FAI Komarov Diploma (2); the Tufts University 

Presidential Medal, Light on the Hill Award and Distinguished Alumnus Award; the Delta Upsilon Distinguished Alumnus Award.

EXPERIENCE: As a Navy ROTC student at Tufts University, Hauck was commissioned upon graduation in 1962 and reported to 

the USS WARRINGTON (DD-843) where he served 20 months, qualifying as Underway Officer-of-the-Deck. In 1964, he attended 

the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California, for studies in mathematics and physics and for a brief time in 1965 studied 

Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. Selected for the Navy’s Advanced Science Program, he received a Master’s in 

Nuclear Engineering from MIT the next year. He commenced flight training at the Naval Air Station, Pensacola, Florida, in 1966, and 

received his Navy wings in 1968. As a pilot with Attack Squadron 35 he deployed to the Western Pacific with Air Wing 15 aboard 

USS CORAL SEA (CVA-43), flying 114 combat and combat support missions.

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National Aeronautics and

Space Administration

Biographical Data

 Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center

 Houston, Texas 77058
In August 1970, Hauck joined Attack Squadron 42 as a visual weapons delivery instructor in the A-6. Selected for test pilot training, 

he reported to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland, in 1971. A three-year tour in the Naval Air Test Center’s 

Carrier Suitability Branch of the Flight Test Division followed. During this period, Hauck served as a project test pilot for automatic 

carrier landing systems in the A-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair II, F-4 Phantom and F-14 Tomcat aircraft and was team leader for the Navy 

Board of Inspection and Survey aircraft carrier trials of the F-14. During a test flight in 1973, he was forced to eject from an RA-5C 

Vigilante at low altitude when its fuel tank exploded. In 1974, he reported as operations officer to Commander Carrier Air Wing 14 

aboard USS ENTERPRISE (CV(N)-65). On two cruises he flew the A-6, A-7, and F-14 during both day and night carrier operations. 

He reported to Attack Squadron 145 as Executive Officer in February 1977.

NASA selected Hauck as an astronaut candidate in January 1978. He was pilot for STS-7, the seventh flight of the Space Shuttle, 

which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 18, 1983. The crew included Bob Crippen (spacecraft commander), and 

three mission specialists, John Fabian, Sally Ride, and Norm Thagard. This was the second flight for the orbiter Challenger and the 

first mission with a 5-person crew. During the mission, the STS-7 crew deployed satellites for Canada (ANIK-C2) and Indonesia 

(Palapa B-1); operated the Canadian-built Remote Manipulator System (RMS) to perform the first deployment and retrieval exercise 

(with the Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS-01)); and with Crippen he conducted the first piloting of the orbiter in close proximity to a 

free-flying satellite (SPAS-01). Mission duration was 147 hours before landing on a lakebed runway at Edwards Air Force Base, 

California, on June 24, 1983.

Captain Hauck was spacecraft commander for the second mission of Discovery on mission STS 51-A, which launched on November 8, 

1984. His crew included Dave Walker (pilot), and three mission specialists, Joe Allen, Anna Fisher, and Dale Gardner. During the 

mission, the crew deployed two satellites, Telesat Canada’s Anik D-2, and Hughes’ LEASAT-1 (Syncom IV-1). In the first space 

salvage mission in history, the crew also retrieved for return to earth the Palapa B-2 and Westar VI satellites. Discovery completed 127 

orbits of the earth before landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on November 16, 1984.

In March 1985, Captain Hauck became the Astronaut Office project officer for the integration of the liquid-fueled Centaur upper stage 

rocket into the shuttle. In May 1985, he was named Commander of the Centaur-boosted Ulysses solar probe mission (sponsored by the 

European Space Agency), scheduled to be launched in April 1986. After the Challenger accident, this mission was postponed, and the 

Shuttle Centaur project was terminated.

In August 1986, Captain Hauck was appointed NASA Associate Administrator for External Relations, the policy advisor to the NASA 

Administrator for congressional, public, international, intergovernmental, and educational affairs. He resumed his astronaut duties at 

the Johnson Space Center in early February 1987.

Hauck was spacecraft commander of Discovery on STS-26, the first flight to be flown after the Challenger accident. The mission 

launched on September 29, 1988. The flight crew included the pilot, Dick Covey, and three mission specialists, Dave Hilmers, Mike 

Lounge, and George (Pinky) Nelson. During the four-day mission, the crew deployed the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-C) 

and operated eleven middeck experiments. Discovery completed 64 orbits of the earth before landing at Edwards Air Force Base, 

California, on October 3, 1988. Hauck has logged more than 5500 flight hours, 436 in space.

In May 1989, Hauck became Director of the Navy Space Systems Division, in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In this 

capacity, he held budgeting responsibility for the Navy’s space programs. Captain Hauck concluded his military active duty on June 1, 

1990.

In October 1990, he became President and Chief Operating Officer of AXA Space, (formerly INTEC), a subsidiary of the 

international AXA insurance group, specializing in underwriting insurance for the risk of launching and operating satellites. On 

January 1, 1993 he assumed responsibilities as Chief Executive Officer. He retired from this position on March 31, 2005. 

JUNE 2013

This is the only version available from NASA. Updates must be sought direct from the above named individual.