Who: Former Astronaut Col. Mark Lee, Program Manager with ORBITEC What: Live Online Chat about Spaceflight Date: Thursday, Oct. 21, 2004 Time: 9:30 - 10:30 AM Alaska Time 10:30 - 11:30 AM Pacific Time 11:30 AM - 12:30 PM Mountain Time 12:30 - 1:30 PM Central Time 1:30 - 2:30 PM Eastern Time

Biography:
Col. Mark Lee served as a NASA astronaut for 17 years and has more than 28 years of aerospace experience. As a payload commander and lead astronaut, Lee participated in four successful space missions and four spacewalks. He successfully planned and conducted five extravehicular activities to refurbish the Hubble Space Telescope (STS-82), performed an untethered spacewalk (STS-64), participated in the first joint mission with Japan (STS-47), and managed projects from conception to on-orbit testing.

Col. Lee's major technical experience and capabilities include aeronautics, operations management, training and development, systems engineering, and spaceflight hardware development. He earned his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering at MIT and his Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Lee is also the recipient of numerous awards, including the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, Distinguished Flying Cross, NASA Exceptional Service Medal, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal and Defense Superior Service Medal.