Editing Sherwood C. Spring

{{Short description|American astronaut (born 1944)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}}
{{Infobox astronaut
|name          = Sherwood Spring
|image         = Sherwood Spring.jpg
|birth_name    = Sherwood Clark Spring
|birth_date    = {{birth date and age|1944|9|3}}
|birth_place   = [[Hartford, Connecticut]], U.S.
|death_date    = 
|death_place   = 
|education     = [[United States Military Academy]] ([[Bachelor of Science|BS]])<br>[[University of Arizona]] ([[Master of Science|MS]])
|type          = [[NASA astronaut]]
|rank          = [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]], [[United States Army|USA]]
|time          = 6d 21h 4m
|selection     = [[NASA Astronaut Group 9|NASA Group 9 (1980)]]
|eva1          = 2
|eva2          = 12h 14m<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.spacefacts.de/eva/astronauts/english/spring_sherwood.htm |title=Sherwood C. Spring - EVA experience}}</ref>
|mission       = [[STS-61-B]]
|insignia      = [[File:Sts-61-b-patch.png|40px]]
}}
'''Sherwood Clark Spring''' (born September 3, 1944) is a retired [[United States Army]] [[Colonel (United States)|colonel]] and former [[NASA]] [[astronaut]]. Spring is married with two children. He is the father of United States [[Olympic Games|Olympian]] [[Justin Spring]]. Sherwood Spring has logged 165 hours in space, 12 of which were spent conducting [[spacewalk]]s. Spring has also accumulated 3,500 hours in 25 different military and civilian aircraft; over 1,500 of those hours were spent in [[jet aircraft]].<ref name=nasabio>{{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spring_sherwood.pdf |title=Sherwood C. (Woody) Spring (Colonel, USA, Ret.), NASA Astronaut (Former) |publisher=NASA |date=December 1994 |access-date=June 18, 2021}}{{NASA}}</ref>

==Personal life==
Spring was active in the [[Boy Scouts of America]] where he achieved its second highest rank, [[Life Scout]].<ref name="astro-bsa">{{cite web | url =http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-558.aspx | title =Astronauts and the BSA | work =Fact sheet | publisher =[[Boy Scouts of America]] | accessdate =March 20, 2006 | url-status =dead | archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20090414205119/http://www.scouting.org/Media/FactSheets/02-558.aspx | archivedate =April 14, 2009 }}</ref> Spring met his future wife, Debbie Cooper (an elementary school physical education teacher), while they were both students at the [[University of Arizona]].<ref>[https://tucson.com/sports/opinion-by-greg-hansen-trials-in-omaha-have-tucson-feel/article_96eee18c-3432-5129-9383-fda4d3bf239f.html Opinion by Greg Hansen : Trials in Omaha have Tucson feel]</ref>

Spring's son, [[Justin Spring|Justin]], was a member of the 2008 US Olympic Men's Gymnastics team that earned bronze in Beijing, was the men's gymnastics head coach at the University of Illinois for 12 seasons and currently an assistant coach at the University of Alabama.

==Education==
Graduated from [[Ponaganset High School]] ([[Scituate, Rhode Island|North Scituate, Rhode Island]]) in 1963; received a [[Bachelor of Science]] degree in General [[Engineering]] from the [[United States Military Academy]] in 1967 and a [[Master of Science]] degree in [[Aerospace Engineering]] from the [[University of Arizona]] in 1974. Graduated from the [[United States Naval Test Pilot School]] in 1976 and the Defense Systems Management College in 1989.

==Organizations==
Member of the [[Society of Experimental Test Pilots]], [[Association of the United States Army]], [[Association of Space Explorers]] (ASE), and a lifetime member of the Association of Graduates of the United States Military Academy.

==Special honors==
[[Defense Distinguished Service Medal]], [[Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)|Distinguished Flying Cross]], 2 [[Bronze Star Medal|Bronze Star]]s, [[Meritorious Service Medal (United States)|Meritorious Service Medal]], 3 [[Army Commendation Medal]]s, 9 [[Air Medal]]s, a [[Vietnam Cross of Gallantry]] with Palm, [[National Defense Service Medal]], [[Vietnam Service Medal]]s, and [[NASA Space Flight Medal]]. Recipient in 1986 of two honorary doctorate degrees: a Doctor of Science,<ref>{{cite journal|title=Spring, Sherwood C. "Woody"|journal=Bryant Commencement Speakers and Honorary Degree Recipients |url=https://digitalcommons.bryant.edu/honorarydegreerecipients/1980-1999/speakers_recipients/49/|publisher=Bryant University|date=1986|access-date=January 15, 2023}}</ref> and one Doctor of Humane Letters.<ref name="nasabio"/> In 1989, Spring was recipient of a second honorary Doctor of Science degree.<ref>{{cite web|title=Rhode Island College Honorary Degree Recipients List|url=https://www.ric.edu/sites/default/files/2022-11/list-of-honorary-degree-recipients-1926-2022.pdf|publisher=Rhode Island College|access-date=January 29, 2023|quote=Doctor of Science 1989}}</ref>

Recipient of the [[Victor A. Prather Award]] in 1985 for performance during an [[Extravehicular activity|EVA]].

==Experience==
After graduation from West Point in 1967, Spring served two tours of duty in [[Vietnam War|Vietnam]]. The first was from 1968 to 1969 with the [[101st Airborne Division]]. The second tour, 1970–1971, came immediately after flight school, where he served as a [[helicopter]] pilot with the [[1st Cavalry Division (United States)|1st Cavalry Division]]. Upon return, he received fixed wing training en route to a master's degree program with the University of Arizona in 1974. After a short tour at [[Edwards Air Force Base]], [[California]] as a [[flight test engineer]], he attended the [[U.S. Naval Test Pilot School]] at [[NAS Patuxent River]], [[Maryland]]. He then returned to the army's Flight Test Facility at Edwards AFB to complete four years as an experimental [[test pilot]].<ref name=nasabio/>

He has military and civilian experience in 25 types of [[airplane]]s and helicopters and has logged more than 3,500 hours flying time—including over 1,500 hours in jet aircraft.<ref name=nasabio/>

==NASA career==
Spring was selected as an astronaut in May 1980. His technical assignments have included software verification at the [[Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory]] and [[Flight Simulation Laboratory]]; vehicle and satellite integration at the [[Kennedy Space Center]], [[Florida]], for [[STS-5]], [[STS-6|6]], [[STS-7|7]], [[STS-8|8]], and [[STS-9|9]]; Astronaut Office EVA ([[Extra-vehicular activity]]) expert; and Space Station construction, EVA maintenance, and design. Spring served as a mission specialist on [[STS-61-B]] which flew November 26, 1985, through December 3, 1985. During that mission, he was responsible for launching three communications satellites and performed two EVAs. During the EVAs, which totaled more than 12 hours, Spring investigated Space Station construction techniques, large structure manipulation while on the end of the remote arm, and a time and motion study for comparison between Earth training and space performance, with the [[EASE/ACCESS]] experiment. With the completion of STS-61-B, he has logged a total of 165 hours in space. After the [[Space Shuttle Challenger disaster|Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' accident]], Spring participated in the Kennedy Space Center [[Tiger Team]] for accident investigation, then led the Astronaut Office EVA (Extra Vehicle Activity) program until 1988.<ref name=nasabio/>

==Post-NASA career==
Following his retirement from NASA in August 1988, Spring spent the next five years directing the Army Space Program Office in [[Washington, D.C.]] He retired from the army in July 1994, and worked as a contractor on Defense and Intelligence programs in the Washington, D.C. area.<ref>{{cite web|title=Speaker Briefing: Colonel Sherwood 'Woody' Spring, USA (Ret)|first=David|last=Malmad|date=January 1, 2022|url=http://gpsana.org/?p=2359|publisher=Grampaw Pettibone Squadron|access-date=January 31, 2023}}</ref> He is currently a professor at the [[Defense Acquisition University]] (DAU) and lives in [[San Diego, California]].

==External links==
* {{cite web|url=https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/spring_sherwood.pdf |title=SHERWOOD C. (WOODY) SPRING (COLONEL, USA, RET.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER) |publisher=NASA |date=December 1994 |access-date=June 18, 2021}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{NASA Astronaut Group 9}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Spring, Sherwood C.}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:United States Army astronauts]]
[[Category:Military personnel from Hartford, Connecticut]]
[[Category:People from Glocester, Rhode Island]]
[[Category:United States Military Academy alumni]]
[[Category:University of Arizona alumni]]
[[Category:United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni]]
[[Category:Defense Acquisition University alumni]]
[[Category:United States Army colonels]]
[[Category:American test pilots]]
[[Category:21st-century American engineers]]
[[Category:United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Defense Distinguished Service Medal]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States)]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Air Medal]]
[[Category:American recipients of the Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)]]
[[Category:Engineers from Connecticut]]
[[Category:Space Shuttle program astronauts]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Meritorious Service Medal (United States)]]
[[Category:Spacewalkers]]