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
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