 bruce edward melnick (born december 5, 1949) is a former american astronaut and retired united states coast guard officer. following retirement from nasa and the coast guard, he entered the aerospace industry. he served as a vice president with the boeing co.'s integrated defense systems group, in charge of boeing's florida operations at the john f. kennedy space center (ksc). melnick retired in 2008 and currently resides on merritt island, florida. melnick graduated from clearwater high school, clearwater, florida, in 1967. he then went on to receive a bachelor's degree in engineering with honors from the united states coast guard academy, and a masterâs degree in aeronautical systems from the university of west florida. he was awarded an honorary doctorate of science degree from the university of west florida on 28 april 2001. ==coast guard career== melnick spent 20 years in the united states coast guard, rising to the rank of commander. his assignments included serving as operations officer and chief test pilot at the coast guard aircraft program office in grand prairie, texas. in that capacity, he conducted most of the developmental and all of the acceptance test flights for the hh-65 dolphin helicopter, including sea trials, and wrote the hh-65 flight manual. during his coast guard service, melnick received numerous awards, including two defense distinguished service medals, two distinguished flying crosses and the secretary of transportation heroism award. in 1992, he received the u.s. coast guard academy distinguished alumni award. he logged over 5,000 hours flying time, predominantly in the hh-3f pelican, hh-52 sea guard, hh-65 dolphin, and t-38 talon aircraft. melnick was selected by nasa in 1987 and became an astronaut in august 1988 with the missions sts-41 and sts-49. he was the first coast guard aviator to participate in the space program, and was the first coast guard aviator into space. commander melnick retired from the u.s. coast guard and left nasa in july 19
1949_births American_astronauts American_people_of_Ukrainian_descent Clearwater_High_School_alumni Living_people Recipients_of_the_Defense_Distinguished_Service_Medal Recipients_of_the_Distinguished_Flying_Cross_(United_States) United_States_Coast_Guard_Academy_alumni United_States_Coast_Guard_Aviation United_States_Coast_Guard_officers United_States_Naval_Aviators University_of_West_Florida_alumni