Frederick Hauck
Frederick Hamilton Hauck was an American naval officer, fighter pilot, test pilot, NASA astronaut, and shuttle , widely known as Rick Hauck. Selected in NASA Astronaut Group 8 in 1978, he became part of the first class trained specifically for the Space Shuttle program.
- Born
- April 11, 1941
- Died
- November 6, 2025
- Birthplace
- Long Beach, California,United States
Flights
3
Spacewalks
0
EVA time
N/A
In space
18 days, 3 hours, 7 minutes
Bio
Hauck entered NASA with a Navy aviation and engineering background that fit the shuttle's test-pilot culture. His first flight was STS-7 in 1983, where he served as pilot on Challenger during the first American mission to include a woman astronaut.
He commanded STS-51-A in 1984, one of the shuttle program's signature satellite-retrieval missions. That flight deployed satellites and brought home the stranded Palapa B2 and Westar 6 spacecraft after by Joseph Allen and Dale Gardner.
Hauck's final flight was STS-26 in 1988, the first shuttle mission after the Challenger accident. As commander, he led Discovery's return-to-flight crew during a mission that symbolized NASA's attempt to rebuild operational confidence after tragedy.
After NASA, Hauck worked in commercial space insurance and aerospace leadership. His career connects early operational shuttle growth, dramatic satellite servicing, and the difficult return-to-flight period after Challenger.