Nicholas Patrick Status: Retired 11/19/1964 – Nationality: American Type: Government First Flight: 12/10/2006 Last Flight: 2/8/2010 Nicholas James MacDonald Patrick, Ph.D. is a British-American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. His flight on the 2006 Discovery STS-116 mission made him the fourth person born in the United Kingdom to go into space. National Aeronautics and Space Administration – USA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.