Charlie Camarda
Charles Joseph \"Charlie\" Camarda (born May 8, 1952 in Queens. is an American engineer and a NASA astronaut who flew his first mission into space on board the Space Shuttle mission STS-114. He served as Senior Advisor for Engineering Development at NASA Langley Research Center. Camarda graduated from Nativity B.V.M. and went to Archbishop Molloy High School. He graduated with a bachelor\'s degree in aerospace engineering from Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn in 1974, a master\'s degree in engineering science from George Washington University in 1980, and a doctorate in aerospace engineering from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 1990. After receiving his bachelor\'s degree, Camarda began work as a research scientist at the NASA\'s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia. In the Thermal Structures Branch, he was responsible for demonstrating the viability of a heat-pipe cooled leading edge for the Space Shuttle. Camarda then headed up the High-Speed Research and Reusable Launch Vehicle programs and oversaw several test facilities such as the Thermal Structure Laboratory, where he worked on numerous Shuttle component developments. Camarda holds seven patents on various innovations, including NASA\'s Heat-Pipe-Cooled Sandwich Panel, named one of the top 100 technical innovations of 1983 by Industrial Research Magazine. After more than 20 years of experience in diverse Shuttle technology applications, he made a career change that put him closer to his work while achieving his dream. Camarda was named a mission specialist in 1996. He also served as a faculty at NYU Poly.
Spaceflights:
No. Mission Position Time Duration
1 STS-114 MSP 26.07. - 09.08.2005 13d 21h 32m
Total 13d 21h 32m
