His four space shuttle flights include the Discovery mission in September 1993 that deployed the Advanced Communications Technology Satellite; and the first International Space Station assembly mission on Endeavour in December 1998, during which he undertook three space walks. He went on to become the director of Human Space Flight Programs–Russia.
Newman joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in 1985 to train crews in space shuttle propulsion, guidance, and control. He was selected as an astronaut in 1990 and left NASA in 2008.