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Notable people · Aviation Space · Military · Science Engineering

Nancy J. Currie-Gregg

Troy-raised Army helicopter pilot and engineer who flew four space shuttle missions (1993-2002) as the crew's robotic-arm specialist, including the first International Space Station assembly flight and the all-Ohio STS-70 crew.

Born December 29, 1958, Wilmington, DE

Nancy J. Currie-Gregg
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
December 29, 1958, Wilmington, DE source
Also known as
Nancy J. Currie, Nancy Currie
Known as
Aviation Space, Military, Science Engineering

Nancy J. Currie-Gregg is living. This page covers their public life only, from published sources. Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com

Life story

Nancy Currie-Gregg was born Nancy Jane Decker in Wilmington, Delaware, in 1958; her family moved to Troy, Miami County, when she was young, and she counts Troy as her hometown. She graduated from Troy High School in 1977 and from Ohio State University in 1980 with a degree in biological science, then went straight into the Army as an air defense artillery officer and helicopter pilot, rising to colonel over 23 years. She joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in 1987 as a flight simulation engineer, was selected as an astronaut in 1990, and flew on STS-57 (1993), STS-70 (1995), STS-88 (1998) and STS-109 (2002), operating the shuttle's robot arm to join the first two space station modules and to capture the Hubble Space Telescope. After the 2003 Columbia accident she led the Space Shuttle Program's Safety and Mission Assurance Office, and later served as a chief and principal engineer of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center before joining Texas A&M as a professor of engineering practice in 2017. Ohio claims her through Troy, Ohio State, the 1995 'All-Ohio' shuttle crew and induction into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame.

Ohio ties

  • Troy (childhood-1977)
    hometown; family moved there when she was young; graduated from Troy High School in 1977 Miami County · source
  • Columbus (Ohio State University) (1977-1980)
    B.S. with honors in biological science, 1980; Army ROTC; later OSU Distinguished Alumni (2000) and College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni (2011) awards Franklin County · source
  • Troy (1996)
    inducted into the Troy, Ohio Hall of Fame Miami County · source
  • Troy (2006)
    honorary grand marshal of the Troy Strawberry Festival parade, riding NASA Glenn's space shuttle float Miami County · source
  • Ohio (statewide) (1994)
    inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame source
  • Cleveland (2008)
    one of the Ohio astronauts photographed in Cleveland on August 29, 2008 for NASA's 50th anniversary Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

  1. 1958 Born Nancy Jane Decker on December 29 in Wilmington, Delaware; she considers Troy, Ohio, her hometown. source
  2. 1977 Graduated from Troy High School in Troy, Ohio. source
  3. 1980 Graduated with honors in biological science from Ohio State University and entered the Army, which had just opened combat-arms branches to women, as an air defense artillery officer bound for flight school. source
  4. 1985 Earned a master's degree in safety engineering from the University of Southern California. source
  5. 1987 Assigned in September to NASA's Johnson Space Center as a flight simulation engineer on the Shuttle Training Aircraft. source
  6. 1990 Selected as an astronaut in NASA Group 13; she completed astronaut candidate training in 1991. source
  7. 1993 Flew on STS-57 Endeavour (June 21-July 1), the first flight of the Spacehab module, operating the robot arm during a spacewalk; NASA photographs from the flight name her Nancy Sherlock. source
  8. 1995 Flew on STS-70 Discovery (July 13-22), the 'All-Ohio' crew that deployed the last Tracking and Data Relay Satellite. source
  9. 1997 Earned a doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Houston. source
  10. 1998 On STS-88 Endeavour (December 4-15), the first International Space Station assembly mission, used the shuttle's 50-foot robot arm to capture the Russian Zarya module and join it to the American Unity module. source
  11. 2002 On STS-109 Columbia (March 1-12), the fourth Hubble servicing mission, operated the robot arm to retrieve and redeploy the telescope and through five spacewalks. source
  12. 2003 After the Columbia accident, was selected to lead the Space Shuttle Program's Safety and Mission Assurance Office. source
  13. 2005 Retired from the Army in May as a colonel after 23 years and more than 4,000 flying hours. source
  14. 2006 Rode NASA Glenn's space shuttle float as honorary grand marshal of the Troy Strawberry Festival parade in June. source
  15. 2011 Received Ohio State's College of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award. source
  16. 2015 Received the Presidential Rank Award, Meritorious Senior Professional. source
  17. 2017 Left NASA in September after 30 years and became professor of engineering practice in industrial and systems engineering at Texas A&M University. source

Stories

The helicopter crash she missed

Currie said in a 2002 NASA interview that she never set out to be an astronaut: when she was growing up in Troy, women were not military pilots or astronauts, but she had dreamed of flying since she could walk. In high school she read about Army aviators flying helicopters to pull wounded soldiers out of Vietnam. The Army opened combat-arms posts to women just as she finished at Ohio State, so she went from air defense training at Fort Bliss straight to flight school, where she had never flown anything. During flight school an accident killed her instructor pilots and two classmates she flew with every day; she was not on the aircraft only by chance. She said that was when she decided to give part of her career to safety engineering, the field of her USC master's degree and, after Columbia, of her job running the shuttle program's safety office.

Source

The All-Ohio crew and the woodpecker

Currie's second flight, STS-70 in July 1995, carried four astronauts from Ohio: Currie of Troy, commander Tom Henricks, Don Thomas and Mary Ellen Weber. Governor George Voinovich attended the launch and made the fifth member, pilot Kevin Kregel of New York, an honorary Ohioan, so the flight became the 'All-Ohio' shuttle mission. Mission control woke the crew with the Cleveland Indians' baseball song. The launch had already slipped more than a month because flicker woodpeckers pecked holes in the foam on Discovery's external tank at the pad, and the tank had to be rolled back for repairs. The Ohio House later cited the mission in a 2015 resolution listing Ohio's 25 astronauts.

Source

Joining the first two station modules

On STS-88 in December 1998, the first International Space Station assembly mission, Currie's main job was the shuttle's 50-foot robot arm. She grappled the Russian-built Zarya module and brought it to the American Unity module riding in Endeavour's payload bay, connecting the first two segments of the station. Two crewmates then made three spacewalks to hook up electrical umbilicals while she worked the arm. Four years later, on STS-109, she used the same skill to pull the Hubble Space Telescope into Columbia's bay for servicing and put it back afterward.

Source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

12

Ohio places

Where Nancy J. Currie-Gregg was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Nancy J. Currie-Gregg, and what the record shows.

Often said Currie is one of four STS-70 crew members born in Ohio (as Wikipedia's Donald A. Thomas article puts it).

The record She was born in Wilmington, Delaware, and moved to Troy as a child. NASA and Thomas's own account describe four crew members as from, or grown up in, Ohio; only three (Henricks, Thomas, Weber) were born there. source

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • These 18 men and five women make up NASA's 1990 class of astronaut candidates. Kneeling, left to right, are Charles J. P
    These 18 men and five women make up NASA's 1990 class of astronaut candidates. Kneeling, left to right, are Ch...
    Public domain
  • The STS-70 astronauts enjoy an early morning breakfast in the Operations and Checkout building, prior to suiting up and
    The STS-70 astronauts enjoy an early morning breakfast in the Operations and Checkout building, prior to suiti...
    Public domain
  • The STS-88 crew gather for the traditional pre-launch breakfast in the Operations and Checkout Building. From left to ri
    The STS-88 crew gather for the traditional pre-launch breakfast in the Operations and Checkout Building. From ...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, looks over a procedures check list while occupying the pilot’s st
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, looks over a procedures check list while occupying the ...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, remains near the controls (upper left) for Columbia's Remote Manipulator
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, remains near the controls (upper left) for Columbia's Remote Ma...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, works with Payload and General Support Computers (PGSC) on the mi
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, works with Payload and General Support Computers (PGSC)...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, fields a question during a pre-flight press conference at Johnson
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, fields a question during a pre-flight press conference ...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, attired in a training version of the shuttle launch and entry gar
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, attired in a training version of the shuttle launch and...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, floats in a small life raft during an emergency egress training s
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, STS-109 mission specialist, floats in a small life raft during an emergency egress ...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, works the controls for Columbia's Remote Manipulator System (RMS) on the
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, works the controls for Columbia's Remote Manipulator System (RM...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, remains near the controls (upper left) for Columbia's Remote Manipulator
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, remains near the controls (upper left) for Columbia's Remote Ma...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, controls the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robotic arm of the Space Shu
    Astronaut Nancy J. Currie, mission specialist, controls the Remote Manipulator System (RMS) robotic arm of the...
    Public domain

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

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