Mark Lewis "Roman" Polansky (born June 2, 1956 in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American aerospace engineer and research pilot and a NASA astronaut. Polansky received the nickname "Roman" as a joke, because he shares a last name with director Roman Polanski. He has flown three on Space Shuttle missions: STS-98, STS-116, and STS-127.
Polansky's father, Irving, was Jewish. His mother, Edith, is originally from Hawaii and is of Korean descent. Polansk...
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Mark Lewis "Roman" Polansky (born June 2, 1956 in Paterson, New Jersey) is an American aerospace engineer and research pilot and a NASA astronaut. Polansky received the nickname "Roman" as a joke, because he shares a last name with director Roman Polanski. He has flown three on Space Shuttle missions: STS-98, STS-116, and STS-127.
Polansky's father, Irving, was Jewish. His mother, Edith, is originally from Hawaii and is of Korean descent. Polansky honored his father's ethnic heritage by taking a teddy bear from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum along for the ride on STS-116.
Polansky graduated from John P. Stevens High School, Edison, New Jersey in 1974, and received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering, and a master of science degree in aeronautics and astronautics, from Purdue University, both in 1978.
Polansky received an Air Force commission upon graduation from Purdue University in 1978. He earned his pilot wings in January 1980 at...
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