VETERAN SHUTTLE COMMANDER RETIRES



September 12, 1997



Jennifer McCarter
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1639)



Eileen Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

<h4>Release: H97-196</h4> <h3>Veteran Shuttle Commander Retires</h3> 

Shuttle astronaut and Russian space station Mir veteran, John Blaha 
(Col., USAF Ret.), will retire from NASA on Sept. 26 to become the 
Assistant Vice President, Integration Engineering, for USAA 
Corporation in San Antonio, TX.



"John has been a valuable member of the astronaut office throughout 
his career," said David C. Leestma, director of Flight Crew 
Operations. "We wish him the best of luck as he pursues these new 
opportunities."



Selected as an astronaut in 1980, Blaha has extensive flight 
experience, having flown on six separate Shuttle missions during his 
career. He was the pilot aboard Discovery for the STS-29 mission in 
March 1989, and flew again on Discovery as pilot for STS-33 in Nov. 
1989. Blaha commanded two Shuttle missions, STS-43 in Aug. 1991 
aboard Atlantis and STS-58 on Columbia in Nov. 1993.



Following extensive training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center 
outside Moscow, Blaha was named as an extended duration crew member 
to fly on the Mir space station. He launched to Mir as a member of 
the STS-79 crew in Sept. 1996 and returned to Earth on Atlantis with 
the STS-81 crew in Jan. 1997, after completing a four-month stay on 
Mir.



"Brenda and I have thoroughly enjoyed the past 17 years with NASA," 
Blaha said. 'We are looking forward to our new opportunity in San 
Antonio. We appreciate all the support we have received over the 
years."



For complete biographical information on Blaha, or any astronaut, see 
the NASA Internet biography home page at URL: 
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/

	
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