William David Hitt is an American author specializing in spaceflight history. Hitt is co-author of ''Homesteading Space: The Skylab Story'', a history of the

Skylab Skylab was the first United States space station, launched by NASA, occupied for about 24 weeks between May 1973 and February 1974. It was operated by three separate three-astronaut crews: Skylab 2, Skylab 3, and Skylab 4. Major operations in ...

program, with

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...

astronauts

Owen K. Garriott Owen Kay Garriott (November 22, 1930 – April 15, 2019) was an American electrical engineer and NASA astronaut, who spent 60 days aboard the Skylab space station in 1973 during the Skylab 3 mission, and 10 days aboard Spacelab-1 on a Spac ...

and Joseph Kerwin. ''Homesteading Space'' was published in 2008 by the

University of Nebraska Press The University of Nebraska Press, also known as UNP, was founded in 1941 and is an academic publisher of scholarly and general-interest books. The press is under the auspices of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, the main campus of the Univer ...

as part of its ''Outward Odyssey: A People's History of Spaceflight'' series. Hitt's second book, '' Bold They Rise: The Space Shuttle Early Years, 1972-1986'', also part of the ''Outward Odyssey'' series, was published in June 2014. ''Homesteading Space'' was reviewed in the Spring 2009 edition of the National Space Society's ''Ad Astra'' magazine, by Rick Sturdivant in ''Air Power History'' in Spring 2010, by Roger Lanius in the January 2009 issue of ''Air & Space Smithsonian'' Magazine, and by the American Library Association's ''Booklist'' in November 2008. It was reviewed also in the Fall/Winter 2009 edition of "Faith & Family Matters" magazine.

Education and background

Hitt was born in 1975 in

Huntsville, Alabama Huntsville is a city in Madison County, Limestone County, and Morgan County, Alabama, United States. It is the county seat of Madison County. Located in the Appalachian region of northern Alabama, Huntsville is the most populous city in t ...

. He graduated from Huntsville High School in 1992; received a B.A. in Journalism from

University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi (byname Ole Miss) is a public research university that is located adjacent to Oxford, Mississippi, and has a medical center in Jackson. It is Mississippi's oldest public university and its largest by enrollment. ...

in 1996.

Career

Hitt was a reporter and news editor of ''

The Enterprise-Tocsin ''The Enterprise-Tocsin'' is a newspaper in the U.S. state of Mississippi. The newspaper offices are in Indianola. The newspaper is distributed in Sunflower County Sunflower County is a county located in the U.S. state of Mississippi. As of th ...

'', a weekly newspaper in

Indianola, Mississippi Indianola is a U.S. city in Sunflower County, Mississippi, in the Mississippi Delta. The population was 10,683 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Sunflower County. History In 1891, Minnie M. Cox was appointed postmaster of Indianola, b ...

, from August 1996 until October 1998, and from October 1999 until August 2002. He was employed by Boone Newspapers in Mississippi from 1998 to 1999. In 2002 Hitt joined the NASA Educational Technology Services web team at NASA's

Marshall Space Flight Center The George C. Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), located in Redstone Arsenal, Alabama (Huntsville postal address), is the U.S. government's civilian rocketry and spacecraft propulsion research center. As the largest NASA center, MSFC's first ...

in Huntsville, Alabama. In 2012 he joined the Strategic Communications team supporting NASA's

Space Launch System The Space Launch System (SLS) is an American super heavy-lift expendable launch vehicle developed by NASA. As of 2022, SLS has the highest payload capacity of any rocket in operational service, as well as the greatest liftoff thrust of any r ...

. He has been a volunteer at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center since 2005 and has served as a Policy Committee Member on the

National Space Society The National Space Society (NSS) is an American international nonprofit 501(c)(3) educational and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy. It is a member of the Independent Charities of America and an annual participant in the Combi ...

since 2008. He frequently participates in book signings and gives public talks related to the Skylab program. Hitt was an actor with Face2Face Improv, Inc. from 2006 to 2012. He is co-founder and director o
Comic Science Improv

References

External links

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Comic Science Improv
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hitt, David 1975 births Living people American historical novelists American male novelists People from Huntsville, Alabama Writers from Huntsville, Alabama