Family Background
He was born in Buffalo, New York, although he considers Elma, New York, a suburb of Buffalo, as his hometown. He has two children. His hobbies include cycling, swimming, woodworking, philately, and outdoor activities. Pawelczyk is the first astronaut of full-blooded Polish descent to go into space. Polish Cosmonaut Mirosław Hermaszewski, was the first Pole in space in 1978 when he flew aboard a Soyuz 30 spacecraft as part of a Soviet bloc program 'Interkosmos') . In 1999, Pawelczyk and three other astronauts from the STS-90 crew were guests of State of the Republic of Poland. He presented the president with the Polish flag that flew with him aboard space shuttle, Columbia. His parents, Joe and Rita, along with representatives of the Polish American Congress from Buffalo and Chicago accompanied the crew on their visit.
Read more about this topic: James A. Pawelczyk
Famous quotes containing the words family and/or background:
“If family violence teaches children that might makes right at home, how will we hope to cure the futile impulse to solve worldly conflicts with force?”
—Letty Cottin Pogrebin (20th century)
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)