Ron Garan Biography

Ron Garan graduated from SUNY College at Oneonta with a degree in business economics. After receiving his Bachelor's, he served as Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force. He then decided to purse a Master's in aeronautical science from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a Master's in aerospace engineering from the University of Florida.

Ron was selected as a pilot by NASA in July 2000. After two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Station and Shuttle Operations Branches and contributed to both the Columbia mishap investigation and Return-to-Flight efforts. In 2006, he became an aquanaut through NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations, an exploration research mission held in Aquarius, the wold's only undersea research laboratory. The mission served to develop lunar surface exploration procedures and telemedical technology applications.

In 2008, Ron completed his first spaceflight on STS-124 as Mission Specialist 2 (Flight Engineer) for ascent and entry. STS-124 shuttle astronauts delivered the 37-foot (11-meter) Kibo lab and added its rooftop storage room, and Garan accumulated 20 hours and 32 minutes of EVA in three spacewalks required to maintain the station and prime the new Japanese module’s robotic arm for work during the 9 days it was docked at the orbiting laboratory. The STS-124 mission was completed in 218 orbits, traveling 5,735,643 miles in 13 days, 18 hours, 13 minutes and 7 seconds.

Ron' second journey took place in 2011. The spacecraft was dubbed "Gagarin." Garan participated in the last space-shuttle-based spacewalk during the STS-135 mission. Expedition 28 landed in Kazakhstan on September 15, 2011, after traveling 65,340,224 miles in 2,624 orbits during 164 days in space.

In total, Garan has logged more than 178 days in space and 27 hours and 3 minutes of EVA in four spacewalks.

Ron presently works in NASA's Open Government Initiative, which seeks to develop innovative collaborations within government.

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