Mike Mullane, former NASA astronaut, is the 2010 SAU Tech Distinguished Speaker

The Division of Extended Education and the Community Enrichment Program of the Department of Secondary and Community Educational Services are pleased to announce Mike Mullane, former NASA astronaut, as the 2010 SAU Tech Distinguished Speaker on March 15, 2010.

Colonel Mike Mullane was selected as a Mission Specialist in 1978 in the first group of Space Shuttle Astronauts. Colonel Mullane completed three space missions and logged 356 hours in space aboard the shuttles Discovery and Atlantis.

As a professional speaker, Colonel Mullane has thrilled tens of thousands with his wonderfully entertaining, inspirational, motivational, and humorous descriptions of the astronaut experience. In his program, The Lighter Side of Spaceflight, Colonel Mullane will take the audience on a uniquely revealing, captivating, and hilarious space journey using spectacular video and slides.

Colonel Mullane was born in 1945 in Wichita Falls, Texas. Upon his graduation from West Point in 1967, he was commissioned in the US Air Force. As a Weapon Systems Operator aboard RF-4C Phantom aircraft, Mike Mullane completed 134 combat missions in Vietnam. He holds a Master of Science Degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology and is also a graduate of the Air Force Flight Test Engineer School at Edwards Air Force Base.

Mullane has been inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame and is the recipient of many awards including the Air Force Distinguished Flying Cross, Legion of Merit and the NASA Space Flight Medal.

Since his retirement from NASA and the Air Force in 1990, Colonel Mullane has written and published three novels and a memoir, Riding Rockets, and has also served as a host for Inside Space on the USA Network.

Colonel Mullane is married to the former Donna Sei and the couple has three children and six grandchildren. He and his wife currently reside in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

The SAU Tech Distinguished Speakers Event will take place at 6:00 pm, March 15th, at the Charles O. Ross Center in Camden. Complementary tickets may be obtained by contacting the Division of Extended Education at 870.574.4521 or come by AD250 in the Administration Building on campus.