Mark Hess	August 29, 1990
Headquarters, Washington, D.C.
(Phone:  202/453-4164)

Barbara Schwartz
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone:  713/483-8647)


RELEASE:  90-119

ASTRONAUT MCCULLEY TO RETIRE FROM THE NAVY AND LEAVE NASA


	Astronaut Michael J. McCulley (Captain, USN) is retiring from
the Navy and leaving NASA in early October after the STS-41 Ulysses 
launch.

	McCulley has accepted the position of Vice President and Deputy 
Director, KSC-Launch Site, with Lockheed Space Operations Company.  
"I am not changing teams with this move, only my position on the 
team," McCulley said.  McCulley will be heavily involved in the day-to-
day processing of Space Shuttle vehicles in his new position.

	McCulley was the pilot on mission STS-34 during which the 
crew successfully deployed the Galileo spacecraft for its journey to
explore Jupiter.  Selected by NASA in May 1984, McCulley has served as
the Astronaut Office weather coordinator, the flight crew representative to 
the Shuttle Program Requirements Control Board, Technical Assistant 
to the Director of Flight Crew Operations, and currently, as lead of the 
Astronaut Support Team at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

	Regarding McCulley's decision to retire, Director of Flight Crew 
Operations Donald R. Puddy said, "Mike has always been a top-notch 
performer in every way.  Both as a pilot and as a technical expert, he 
has made significant contributions to the Shuttle Program and to my 
office.  We will miss him here at JSC, but his experience and expertise 
will be extremely valuable in his new position."