Portrait of Steven Nagel Courtesy of NASA

Steven Nagel is an astronaut who was born on October 27, 1946, in Illinois. Before he became an astronaut, Nagel was an Air Force pilot.

Nagel became an astronaut in 1978. He has spent over 723 hours on 4 spacecraft.

In 1985, Nagel made his first spaceflight aboard Mission 51-G. The crew deployed three communications satellites. Nagel flew aboard Spacelab D1 later that year. The crew performed several experiments during this mission.

Nagel made his third spaceflight aboard STS-37 in 1991. The Gamma Ray Observatory was deployed during this mission. In 1993, Nagel flew aboard STS-55. The crew conducted 89 experiments.