Mark Charles Lee USAF Colonel, (born August 14, 1952) is a former NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions. He retired from the Air Force and NASA on July 1, 2001.
Lee was born August 14, 1952, in Viroqua, Wisconsin, and graduated from Viroqua High School in 1970. Lee is an Eagle Scout. He later attended the United States Air Force Academy, where he received a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering in 1974. Following pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and F-4 Phantom II upgrade at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, Lee spent years at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa, Japan, flying F-4's in the 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron. In 1979, after this assignment, he studied for a Master of Science degree in mechanical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he specialized in graphite/epoxy advanced composite materials.
After graduation from MIT in 1980, he was assigned to Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, in the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) Program Office, as the operational support manager. His responsibilities included resolving mechanical and material deficiencies which affected the mission readiness of the AWACS aircraft. In 1982 he returned to flying, upgrading in the F-16 and serving as executive officer for the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing Deputy Commander for Operations, and as flight commander in the 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, until his selection as an astronaut candidate.
Lee was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in May 1984. In June 1985, he completed a one-year training and evaluation program, qualifying him for assignment as a mission specialist on future Space Shuttle flight crews. His technical responsibilities within the Astronaut Office included extravehicular activity (EVA), the Inertial Upper Stage, Spacelab, and Space Station systems. Lee also served as a spacecraft communicator in the Mission Control Center, as Lead Astronaut Support Person at the Kennedy Space Center, Chief of Astronaut Appearances, Chief of the Astronaut Office Mission Development Branch, Chief of the EVA Robotics Branch, and Chief of the EVA Branch.