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Jon McBride

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This article is about the astronaut. For the film director, see Jon McBride (filmmaker).

Jon McBride
Born
Jon Andrew McBride

(1943-08-14)August 14, 1943
Charleston, West Virginia, U.S.
DiedAugust 7, 2024(2024-08-07) (aged 80)
EducationWest Virginia University
Naval Postgraduate School (BS)
Pepperdine University
AwardsLegion of Merit
Defense Superior Service Medal
Air Medal
Space career
NASA astronaut
RankCaptain, USN
Time in space
8d 5h 23m
SelectionNASA Group 8 (1978)
MissionsSTS-41-G
STS-61-E (never flew)
Mission insignia
RetirementMay 12, 1989

Jon Andrew McBride (August 14, 1943 – August 7, 2024) was an American naval officer, test pilot, astronaut and administrator for NASA.

Throughout his career with the United States Navy, McBride served as an aviator, a fighter pilot, a test pilot, and an aeronautical engineer. He had achieved the rank of captain when he retired in 1989.

McBride was an astronaut with NASA, a role in which he piloted STS-41-G, and would have been commander of STS-61-E had the mission not been canceled as the next scheduled launch in the wake of the Challenger disaster.

Early life, education and personal life

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Jon McBride was born on August 14, 1943, in Charleston, West Virginia.[1] When he was still a young child, his family moved to Beckley, West Virginia,[2] which he considered to be his hometown. In 1960, he graduated from Beckley's Woodrow Wilson High School, then attended West Virginia University from 1960–1964 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in 1971. He did graduate work in Human Resource Management at Pepperdine University. At West Virginia University, McBride became a member of the Phi Delta Theta fraternity.[1]

McBride was married to the former Brenda Lou Stewart in 1966.[3] They had three children, Richard M. (1962–1992),[4] Melissa L. (1966), and Jon A. (1970).[5] After their divorce in 1986, he married the former Sharon Lynn White in 1988, which also ended in divorce in 2019.[3]

Military career

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McBride's naval service began in 1965 with flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida.[6] After being designated a naval aviator and receiving his wings in August 1966, he was assigned to Fighter Squadron 101 (VF-101) based at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia for training on the F-4 Phantom II aircraft. He was subsequently assigned to Fighter Squadron 41 (VF-41) where he served three years as a fighter pilot and division officer. He also served tours with VF-11 and VF-103. While deployed in Southeast Asia, McBride flew 64 combat missions during the Vietnam War.[1]

He attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (Class 75A) at Edwards Air Force Base in California before reporting to Air Test and Development Squadron Four (VX-4) at Naval Air Station Point Mugu in California, where he served as a maintenance officer and Sidewinder project officer. He flew over 40 different types of military and civilian aircraft and piloted the Navy "Spirit of '76" bicentennial-painted F-4J Phantom in various air shows during 1976, 1977, and 1978. He held Federal Aviation Administration ratings which included civilian commercial pilot certificate (multi-engine), instrument, and glider, and he previously served as a certified flight instructor.[1]

He logged over 8,800 hours of flying time—including 4,700 hours in jet aircraft and over 600 carrier landings.[1]

NASA career

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McBride (bottom left) with the crew of the STS-41-G mission

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978, McBride became an astronaut in August 1979,[7] the first astronaut from West Virginia.[8][2] His NASA assignments included lead chase pilot for the maiden voyage of Space Shuttle Columbia, software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory, capsule communicator for STS-5, STS-6, and STS-7, flight data file manager, and orbital rendezvous procedures development.[1]

McBride was the pilot of STS-41-G, which launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on October 5, 1984, aboard the Orbiter Challenger. This was the first crew of seven, at the time the largest crew ever sent into space.[6] During their eight-day mission, crew members deployed the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite, conducted scientific observations of the Earth with the OSTA-3 pallet and Large Format Camera, and demonstrated potential satellite refueling with an EVA and associated hydrazine transfer. The mission duration was 197 hours and concluded with a landing at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on October 13, 1984.[1][9]

McBride was scheduled to fly again in March 1986 as the commander of STS-61-E. This flight was one of several deferred by NASA in the wake of the Challenger accident in January 1986.[1][10]

McBride (sitting in the middle), as commander of never flown STS-61-E spaceflight

On July 30, 1987, McBride was assigned to NASA Headquarters to serve as assistant administrator for Congressional Relations, with responsibility for NASA's relationship with the United States Congress, and for providing coordination and direction to all headquarters and field center communications with congressional support organizations. He held this post from September 1987 through March 1989. In 1988, McBride was named to command the crew of the STS-35 (ASTRO-1) mission, scheduled for launch in March 1990, but chose to retire from NASA instead.[1][10]

Post-NASA career

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Business career

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In May 1989, McBride retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy to pursue a business career. He moved to Lewisburg, West Virginia, where he became president and chief executive officer of the Flying Eagle Corporation, a venture capital firm,[2] and president of the Constructors' Labor Council of West Virginia, a group representing heavy and highway construction contractors.[11]

Political career

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In 1996, he unsuccessfully vied for the Republican nomination for Governor of West Virginia, losing to Cecil H. Underwood.[2][12][13]

Kennedy Space Center and retirement

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By 2008, McBride was retired and living near Cocoa, Florida. According to a short interview on September 20, 2017, during a "Meet an Astronaut" event, he was also actively working on improving the Space Shuttle Experience ride. He had proposed to assist in the development of a landing sequence for the ride.[14][15] McBride remained active supporting the "Lunch with an Astronaut" program at Kennedy Space Center until 2020 when he announced his retirement from duty at the visitors complex.[16][17]

On September 23, 2011, the NASA Independent Verification and Validation Facility (IV&V) in Fairmont, West Virginia, dedicated a NASA software laboratory to McBride, a West Virginia native. The laboratory's official name is the Jon McBride Software Testing and Research Laboratory, or JSTAR. JSTAR is NASA IV&V's environment for adaptable testing and simulation, designed to enhance tools and methods used to critically assess mission and safety critical software across NASA's missions. The lab supports end-to-end testing on mission flight software through the application of analytical rigor to reduce the threat of software-related mission failure.[18][19][3]

Death

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Jon McBride died on August 7, 2024, at the age of 80, just a week before his 81st birthday.[3][8]

Organizations

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Awards and honors

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as "Jon A. Mcbride (Captain, USN, Ret.) NASA Astronaut (Former)" (PDF). NASA. July 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved April 14, 2021.
  2. ^ a b c d Steelhammer, Rick (August 10, 2024). "Jon McBride, veteran, governor candidate, state's first astronaut, dies at age 80". Charleston Gazette-Mail. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Astronaut Jon McBride, early NASA space shuttle pilot, dies at 80". Collect Space. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved August 8, 2024.
  4. ^ "Richard M. McBride, LT, USN". U.S. Naval Academy Virtual Memorial Hall. U. S. Naval Academy. Archived from the original on October 30, 2023. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  5. ^ "McBride's children". Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved April 29, 2015.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h "LARGEST CREW EVER SENT INTO SPACE BLENDS INTEREST IN FLIGHT AND SCIENCE". The New York Times. October 6, 1984. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  7. ^ Ross-Nazzal, Jennifer (Fall 2008). "Legacy of the 35 New Guys" (PDF). Houston History. 6 (1). ISSN 2165-6614. Retrieved October 5, 2020.
  8. ^ a b Patton, Andy (August 9, 2024). "West Virginia's first astronaut, Beckley native, Jon McBride dies at 80". The Register-Herald. Beckley, WV. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  9. ^ Dumoulin, Jim (June 29, 2001). "NASA mission summary 41-G (13)". NASA. Archived from the original (by web.archive.org, the Wayback Machine) on March 29, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Evans, Ben (March 9, 2013). "In the Shadow of Challenger: The Lost Mission of STS-61E (Part 1)". www.americaspace.com. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  11. ^ "Jon McBride". Williamson Daily News. May 10, 1996. p. 5A. Archived from the original on August 8, 2024. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  12. ^ Rozell, Mark J.; Wilcox, Clyde (1997). God at the Grass Roots, 1996: The Christian Right in the American Elections. Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 246–. ISBN 9780847686117. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  13. ^ Markham, Gailyn (October 25, 2023). "Two historic markers dedicated in Beckley". WVVA. Retrieved August 10, 2024. The first is a tribute to Jon McBride, a NASA astronaut and space shuttle pilot. McBride graduated from Woodrow Wilson High School more than 60 years ago, and, in 1996, he tried to join the state's political scene when he put his name in the hat for the Republican nomination for governor. He lost the race to Cecil Underwood.
  14. ^ KSC, Jeff Stuckey. "NASA – Space Shuttle Launch Experience". www.nasa.gov. Archived from the original on July 30, 2005. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  15. ^ Tapscott, Sean. Personal interview with Jon A. McBride. September 20, 2017.
  16. ^ Kelly, Emre (January 10, 2020). "NASA astronaut Jon McBride retires from Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex". Florida Today. Archived from the original on January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  17. ^ Ogintz, Eileen (March 16, 2009). "Astronaut encounters at Kennedy Space Center". CNN. Archived from the original on March 12, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  18. ^ "Jon McBride Software Testing and Research (JSTAR)". NASA. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  19. ^ "New NASA Software Laboratory in West Virginia Named in Honor of Former Astronaut Jon A. McBride". SpaceNews. September 22, 2011. Retrieved August 10, 2024.
  20. ^ "Captain Jon A. McBride". WV Aviation Hall of Fame. West Virginia Department of Transportation. 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2024.

Public Domain This article incorporates public domain material from Jon A. Mcbride (Captain, USN, Ret.) NASA Astronaut (Former) (PDF). National Aeronautics and Space Administration. Retrieved August 8, 2024.

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