David C. Leestma

E269784

NASA astronaut United States Navy officer human

David C. Leestma is a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy captain who flew on multiple Space Shuttle missions and later held leadership roles within NASA’s astronaut office and spaceflight programs.

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All labels observed (2)

Label	Occurrences
David C. Leestma canonical	9
David Cornell Leestma	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T2053974 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: David C. Leestma
Context triple: [STS-41-G, crewMember, David C. Leestma]

A. David C. Hilmers
David C. Hilmers is a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Marine Corps officer who flew on multiple Space Shuttle missions before later becoming a physician and academic.
B. Robert A. Burgelman
Robert A. Burgelman is a scholar of strategic management and corporate innovation, known for his influential research on strategy-making processes and long-time professorship at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
C. Karl C. Mamola
Karl C. Mamola is a distinguished physics educator recognized for his significant contributions to physics teaching and learning.
D. Fred J. Koenekamp
Fred J. Koenekamp was an American cinematographer renowned for his work on major films of the 1970s and 1980s, earning an Academy Award and multiple nominations for his visually striking photography.
E. Alexander J. Smits
Alexander J. Smits is a prominent mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist known for his influential research on turbulent flows and high-speed aerodynamics.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: David C. Leestma
Target entity description: David C. Leestma is a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Navy captain who flew on multiple Space Shuttle missions and later held leadership roles within NASA’s astronaut office and spaceflight programs.

A. David C. Hilmers
David C. Hilmers is a former NASA astronaut and U.S. Marine Corps officer who flew on multiple Space Shuttle missions before later becoming a physician and academic.
B. Robert A. Burgelman
Robert A. Burgelman is a scholar of strategic management and corporate innovation, known for his influential research on strategy-making processes and long-time professorship at Stanford Graduate School of Business.
C. Karl C. Mamola
Karl C. Mamola is a distinguished physics educator recognized for his significant contributions to physics teaching and learning.
D. Fred J. Koenekamp
Fred J. Koenekamp was an American cinematographer renowned for his work on major films of the 1970s and 1980s, earning an Academy Award and multiple nominations for his visually striking photography.
E. Alexander J. Smits
Alexander J. Smits is a prominent mechanical engineer and fluid dynamicist known for his influential research on turbulent flows and high-speed aerodynamics.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	NASA astronaut ⓘ United States Navy officer ⓘ human ⓘ
almaMater	United States Naval Academy ⓘ
astronautGroup	NASA Astronaut Group 9 ⓘ
astronautSelectionYear	1980 ⓘ
awardReceived	NASA Exceptional Service Medal ⓘ NASA Space Flight Medal ⓘ
birthDate	1949-05-06 ⓘ
birthPlace	Muskegon, Michigan, United States ⓘ linked to: Muskegon, Michigan
countryOfCitizenship	United States of America ⓘ
degree	Bachelor of Science in Aeronautical Engineering ⓘ
educationEndYear	1971 ⓘ
employer	National Aeronautics and Space Administration ⓘ linked to: NASA United States Navy ⓘ
familyName	Leestma ⓘ
fieldOfWork	aeronautics ⓘ human spaceflight ⓘ
fullName	David Cornell Leestma ⓘ linked to: David C. Leestma
gender	male ⓘ
givenName	David ⓘ
languageSpoken	English ⓘ
militaryBranch	United States Navy ⓘ
militaryRank	Captain ⓘ
navalAviator	true ⓘ
notableActivity	flew ATLAS-1 atmospheric and solar science mission STS-45 ⓘ flew classified Department of Defense mission STS-28 ⓘ participated in deployment of Earth Radiation Budget Satellite on STS-41-G ⓘ
occupation	astronaut ⓘ naval aviator ⓘ
positionHeld	Director of Flight Crew Operations at NASA Johnson Space Center ⓘ Manager of the Space Shuttle Program Integration Office ⓘ leadership roles in NASA Astronaut Office ⓘ
retiredFrom	NASA Astronaut Corps ⓘ
roleInMission	mission specialist on STS-28 ⓘ mission specialist on STS-41-G ⓘ mission specialist on STS-45 ⓘ
selectedAsAstronautBy	NASA ⓘ
serviceStart	United States Navy service beginning in 1971 ⓘ
spaceFlight	Space Shuttle Atlantis STS-45 ⓘ linked to: STS-45 Space Shuttle Challenger STS-41-G ⓘ Space Shuttle Columbia STS-28 ⓘ linked to: STS-28
spaceMission	STS-28 ⓘ STS-41-G ⓘ STS-45 ⓘ
totalSpaceFlights	3 ⓘ
totalTimeInSpace	approximately 22 days ⓘ
workLocation	Johnson Space Center ⓘ