Charles E. Brady, Jr. (born August 12, 1951) (Captain, USN) is a US NASA astronaut.
Brady was born in Pinehurst, North Carolina, but considers Robbins, North Carolina, to be his hometown. He maintains a home on Ben Ure Island, Oak Harbor, Washington. He enjoys canoeing, kayaking, tennis, biking and amateur radio operating. His father, Dr. Charles E. Brady, Sr., is deceased. His mother, Mrs. Ann Maness Brady, resides in Robbins, North Carolina. One sister, Jerry Ann Kennedy, her husband Clifford, and two children Mark and Mary Jayne live in Burlington, North Carolina.
Following graduation in 1969, Brady attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, majoring in pre-med. He was accepted into medical school at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina, in 1971 and graduated in 1975. From Duke, he went to the University of Tennessee Hospital in Knoxville for his internship. In 1978 Brady worked as the team physician in sports medicine for Iowa State University in Ames. He continued in sports medicine and family practice for the next seven years working as a team physician at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina. He joined the Navy in 1986 receiving training as a flight surgeon at the Naval Aerospace Medical Institute at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. In June 1986 he reported to Carrier Air Wing Two on board the aircraft carrier USS Ranger (CV 61). He was assigned to the attack wing including Attack Squadron 145 (VA-145) and Aviation Electronic Countermeasures Squadron 131 (VAQ-131). Brady was selected for the Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron "Blue Angels" in 1988 and served with them through 1990. He was serving in Tactical Electronic Warfare Squadron 129 when selected for the astronaut program.
Brady was selected by NASA in March 1992, and reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992. He is qualified for selection as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. Assignments to date include: working technical issues for the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch; flight software testing in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL); astronaut representative to the Human Research Policy and Procedures Committee; deputy chief for Space Shuttle astronaut training; and chief for Space Station astronaut training in the Mission Operations Division. He flew on STS-78 in 1996 and has logged over 405 hours in space.
STS-78 launched June 20, 1996 and landed July 7, 1996 becoming the longest Space Shuttle mission to date. The Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission served as a model for future studies onboard the International Space Station. The mission included studies sponsored by ten nations, five space agencies, and the crew included a Frenchman, a Canadian, a Spaniard and an Italian
APRIL 1999