Kyle Herring March 10, 1995
RELEASE: 95-020
ASTRONAUT BAKER TO REPLACE SEGA AS NASA MANAGER IN RUSSIA
Astronaut Michael A. Baker (Captain, USN), will replace Ronald M. Sega,
Ph.D., as the NASA manager of operational activities at Star City, Russia, near Moscow.
The transition coincides with the launching March 14 of Norman E. Thagard and two
cosmonauts aboard a Soyuz rocket for a three-month stay aboard Russia's space station
Mir.
As Director of Operations, Russia, Baker will support training and preparations of
NASA astronauts at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC), Star City. He also
will be the primary interface between NASA and the GCTC management, coordinating all
training and other operations including NASA or contractor personnel in Star City.
Baker, the fourth astronaut to serve in this rotational assignment will continue to
establish operational and personal relationships with Star City management and the
cosmonauts, which are pivitol to successful, long-term joint operations involving NASA,
the Russian Space Agency (RSA) and GCTC. He also will participate in personal training
designed to acquaint astronauts with the operational aspects of Russian vehicles and
training facilities.
Baker will join fellow astronauts Shannon W. Lucid, Ph.D., and John E. Blaha
(USAF Colonel, Ret.) who have been training in Star City since February as the prime and
backup crew members for a five-month flight aboard Mir. Lucid will be launched aboard
Atlantis' STS-76 mission in the spring of 1996. It will be the third Shuttle mission to dock
with the Russian space station.
Baker, 41, has flown three times on the Shuttle: STS-43 in August 1991, STS-52
in October 1992, and most recently on STS-68 in September/October 1994. He received
a bacheolor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas in
1975.
Sega, 42, flew on Discovery's STS-60 mission in February 1994, the first joint
U.S./Russian Space Shuttle mission. He has served in Star City since November 1994 and
will return to an assignment in the Astronaut Office at the Johnson Space Center. Sega
received a doctorate in electrical engineering from the University of Colorado in 1982.
- end -
text-only version of this release | 
