Columbia (STS-90) launched 1998

STS-90 crew

Front row (L-R): Scott Altman, Richard Searfoss

Last row (L-R): James Pawelczyk, Richard Linnehan, Kathryn Hire, Davydd Williams, Jay Buckey

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-90), launched April 17, 1998, was the final flight of the European Space Agency's Spacelab laboratory module.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Searfoss, Pilot Scott Altman, Dafydd Williams (CSA), Kathryn Hire, Richard Linnehan, Jay Buckey and James Pawelczyk.

The mission continued the exploration of the effects of microgravity on the human nervous system.  The crew returned to Earth on May 3.

Happy birthday, shuttle astronaut James Pawelczyk!

James "Jim" Pawelczyk, born September 20, 1950 in Buffalo, New York, is an astronaut who flew on the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-90) April 1998. He is the first American astronaut of full-blooded Polish descent to fly in space.  Cosmonaut Miroslaw Hermaszewski was the first Pole in space in 1978.

Pawelczyk got a MS in physiology in 1985 and PhD in biology from the University of North Texas (Go Eagles!) in 1989.  It was his education and background why he was selected for the STS-90 mission, which conducted research on the human neurological system.