Today in Princeton history, 1996: Barry *80, shuttle launch into space

Early on the morning of Jan. 11, 1996, the space shuttle Endeavor launched from Kennedy Space Center, carrying six astronauts, including first-time mission specialist Daniel T. Barry *80. The crew’s first goal was to capture and return a Japanese research spacecraft. The crew also tested equipment for the construction of the International Space Station – an exercise that included a six-hour spacewalk for Barry. He later found time to play Go, an ancient Asian board game, with Japanese colleague Koichi Wakata. Barry said at a post-flight press conference that the game “symbolized connections between past and present, and between Japan and the United States.”

 

Barry, who earned a Princeton Ph.D. in electrical engineering, joined the space program in 1992 and made three flights, the last coming in 2001. He later competed on TV’s Survivor and currently serves as the chairman of robotics and head of faculty at Singularity University in Mountain View, Calif.

 

Barry is one of four Princeton engineers who flew NASA missions. The list also includes the late Charles “Pete” Conrad ’53, who walked on the moon in 1969; Gerald Carr *62, the commander of Skylab 4; and Gregory Linteris ’79 *90, who flew two shuttle missions in 1997.