Portrait of Charles Gemar Courtesy of NASA

Charles Gemar is an American astronaut who was born on August 4, 1955, in South Dakota. Before he became an astronaut, Gemar served in the Army.

Gemar became an astronaut in 1986. He has spent over 580 hours in space on three spaceflights.

Gemar made his first spaceflight aboard STS-38 in 1990. This was a Department of Defense mission. In 1991, Gemar flew aboard STS-48. The crew studied the Earth's atmosphere during this mission. Gemar made his third spaceflight in 1994 aboard STS-62.