CAPT Frederick Hamilton “Rick” HAUCK, USN (Ret),
Golden Eagle Emeritus
 

Gentlemen,
It is my sad duty to inform you that in the afternoon of Thursday, 6 November 2025, Golden Eagle Emeritus CAPT Frederick Hamilton “Rick” HAUCK, USN (Ret), made his Last Take Off with his family by his side near his home of Falmouth, Maine. Rick had been battling Parkinson’s disease for a number of years before passing at the age of 84.
 
Rick was born in Long Beach, California, in April 1941 in a Navy family, the son of CAPT Philip and Virginia Hauck, and the grandson of VADM and Mrs. Olaf Hustvedt. He grew up in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., graduating from St. Albans School in Washington, D.C., in 1958. He attended Tufts University as a Navy Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) student, graduating in 1962 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics. Commissioned as an Ensign on 25 June 1962 as a Surface Warfare Officer, his first duty assignment was to USS Warrington (DD 843), based at Newport, Rhode Island. While aboard, he served as the Communications and Combat Information Center officer, participating in search and rescue operations on the loss of USS Thresher, and completed an Indian Ocean deployment. At the end of his 20-month tour in 1964, he next reported to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, for studies in mathematics and physics, and for a brief time in 1965 studied Russian at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey. With his selection to the Navy’s Advanced Science Program, he attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a master’s degree in Nuclear Engineering in 1966. During his time there he applied and was accepted to transfer to Naval Aviation.
 
Reporting to the Naval Aviation Training Command in September 1966, Rick completed training with VT-1, VT-7, VT-4, and VT-21 flying the T-34A Mentor, T-2A/B Buckeye, and the TAF-9J Cougar, earning his Wings of Gold on 12 February 1968. He next reported to the VA-42 Green Pawns, the Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) for the A-6A Intruder, at NAS Oceana, Virginia. In October 1968 Rick reported to his first fleet aviation squadron, the VA-35 Black Panthers, also located at NAS Oceana, flying the A-6A. The squadron deployed aboard USS Coral Sea (CVA 43) to Vietnam from September 1969–July 1970, conducting combat operations from November through May. During this time Rick flew 114 combat missions. In July 1970 he returned to VA-42 as an instructor pilot before reporting to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School (TPS) as a student in February 1971. On completion of TPS in September 1971, he remained at the Naval Air Test Center as a Test Pilot, logging time in the A-3 Skywarrior, A-4 Skyhawk, RA-5 Vigilante, A-6 Intruder, EA-6 Prowler, A-7 Corsair II, F-4 Phantom II, F-8 Crusader, F-14 Tomcat, C-1 Trader, T-2 Buckeye, E-2 Hawkeye, S-3 Viking, AH-1 Cobra, and the T-38 Talon. He was a carrier suitability test pilot for the F-4, A-6, A-7, and F-14, was team leader for the F-14A Board of Inspection and Survey Carrier Aircraft Performance Trials and made the first night carrier landing for the F-14. He also survived a low altitude ejection from an RA-5C when the fuel tanks exploded. Rick was selected as the Navy’s Outstanding Test Pilot for 1974.
 
Rick’s next assignment in August 1974 was to the staff of Carrier Air Wing 14, NAS Miramar, California, where he served as Operations Officer and flew the A-6, A-7, and F-14 on day and night operations deployed aboard USS Enterprise (CVAN 65). This was the first operational deployment of the F-14. Completing his two-year tour and following selection for command, in August 1976 he reported to the VA-128 Golden Intruders, NAS Whidbey Island, Washington, the FRS for the A-6, for refresher training. In February 1977 he joined the VA-145 Swordsmen, also at Whidbey Island, as the Executive Officer, flying the A-6E. Prior to assuming command, in January 1978 Rick was selected for the Astronaut program and departed for training at NASA in April 1978 joining the first NASA class for shuttle astronauts.
 
After completion of his initial training, Rick became the first in his class to pilot a Space Shuttle in June 1983. This was Challenger’s second flight, on mission STS-7, the seventh flight in the shuttle program, with fellow Golden Eagle Bob CRIPPEN as spacecraft commander. This flight was the first formation flying of a shuttle with a free-flying satellite and included the deployment of two satellites. His next flight was aboard Discovery in November 1984, STS-51-A. as spacecraft commander. This flight also deployed two satellites, but in another historic first, executed a space salvage mission by rendezvousing, retrieving and returning to earth two malfunctioning satellites. In March 1985, Rick became the astronaut office project manager for the integration of a liquid-fueled Centaur upper stage rocket into the shuttle. In May he was named commander for the Centaur-boosted Ulysses solar probe mission, but following the January 1986 Challenger tragedy the Ulysses mission was postponed and the Centaur project terminated. In August 1986 Rick was appointed as NASA Associate Administrator for External Relations, the policy advisor to the NASA Administrator for congressional, public, international, inter-governmental and educational affairs. He resumed astronaut duties in February 1987. Rick was selected/asked to be the commander of the STS-26 “Return to Flight” mission following the Challenger mishap. Launching in September 1988 aboard Discovery, he led the five-man crew on a successful mission deploying a satellite and conducting 11 mid-deck experiments, on a mission that became his last flight in space. Rick completed his career at NASA in March 1989, returning to Navy duty. While at NASA, he flew the T-38, KC-135, Gulfstream II, Boeing 747, C-5A Galaxy, and the Space Shuttle.
 
Rick’s final active-duty billet was as Director, Navy Space Systems Division in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. In that capacity he held budgeting responsibilities for Navy space programs. He retired from active duty on 1 June 1990.
 
In a 28-year career in uniform that began on the ocean’s surface and led to space flight, Rick flew over 5,500 hours, mostly in jets, with 486 hours of space flight. He had 412 carrier arrested landings, 112 of those at night, a combat tour in Vietnam, flying 114 combat missions, and was awarded 9 Strike/Flight Air Medals and a Navy Commendation Medal with Combat “V.” He also commanded two Space Shuttle flights, flying a total of three flights, executing “firsts” on each of those flights, and was awarded two Defense Distinguished Service Medals, a NASA Distinguished Service Medal, and a Distinguished Flying Cross among many other awards. Additionally, he was the Navy’s Outstanding Test Pilot for 1974. While he began his career as a Surface Warfare Officer, he clearly was born to fly as a Naval Aviator.
 
After retirement, in October 1990, Rick joined AXA Space as President and Chief Operating Officer and in January 1993 became the Chief Executive Officer. AXA Space is a world leader and international company based in Bethesda, Maryland and Paris, France, that provides property and casualty insurance in the risk of launching and operating satellites. Rick led the company until retirement in 2005. He and his wife Susan Bruce moved from their home in Potomac, Maryland to Maine, where they had a cottage by the sea in Winter Harbor, Maine for summer gatherings, and where they designed and built their dream house in Falmouth, Maine. During retirement, he also published his memoirs, “To Mach 25 and Home,” written for his grandchildren. He continued pursuing his many interests, including skiing, sailing, kayaking, tennis, and working on his red 1958 Corvette. As Susan says, he was as happy skippering a 30-foot antique wooden sailboat on the Maine coast as flying an F-14 or the Space Shuttle. While he received many honors and awards throughout his career, he is most proud of his induction into The Astronaut Hall of Fame, being a member of The Golden Eagles, being a fellow in both the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, serving on the Board of Trustees of Tufts University, and on the board of Cianbro, a Maine heavy construction company. All that said, he was most proud of his family, clearly stating in his memoirs “… it is not the medals or honors or titles or awards that sustain me: it is the love of my wife, children and grandchildren, who make me feel validated and honored every day.”
 
Rick is survived by his beloved wife of 32 years, Susan Bruce, his daughter Whitney Hauck Wood (Bill), son Stephen Hauck (Larissa), stepdaughters Kimberly Holden, Elizabeth Thompson (Jon), Jennifer Holden, grandchildren Cooper (Frances), Emma (Alex), Lily (Ik), Alice, Vanessa, Sarah, Emilia, Lucy, and great-grandson Frederick. He is also survived by his sister Betty Hauck and his first wife Dolly Tucker. He was predeceased by his older brother Roger. Contributions in his memory can be made to The Astronaut Scholarship Fund, 651 Danville Drive, Suite 101, Orlando, FL  32825 or the Schoodic Community Fund, 245 Main Street, Ellsworth, ME  04605.
 
Rick will be remembered at The Golden Eagle Memorial Service in April 2026.
 
He will be missed.
 
In sadness,
Marty CHANIK
Pilot