To celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage month, we are highlighting Leroy Chiao who is a Chinese American NASA Astronaut.
Check out these ten fascinating facts about Chiao:
“I was eight years old when I saw the Apollo Moon landing in 1969. I was riveted. We watched it all afternoon; it was so amazing to go out, look up and realize that, almost a quarter of a million miles away, two astronauts were getting ready to take their first steps on the Moon.”
NASA astronaut Leroy Chiao
- Born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1960
- Earned a Ph.D. in chemical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara
- Aviator call sign is “Shandong” to honor the coastal province in eastern China where is parents were born
- Selected as an astronaut in 1990
- Veteran of four spaceflights (STS-65 July 8-23, 1994, STS-72 Jan. 11-20, 1996, STS-92 Oct. 11-24, 2000, International Space Station Expedition 10 Oct. 13 to April 24, 2005)
- Logged a total of 229 days, 7 hours, 38 minutes and 5 seconds in space, including 36 hours and 7 minutes of spacewalk time
- Became the first American to vote in a presidential election while in space in 2004
- Speaks English, Russian and Mandarin
- Married his wife Karen in 2003 and has two kids (twins named Henry and Caroline)
- Retired from NASA in 2005
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