He received his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from the United States Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, in 1971.

Prior to his selection as an astronaut candidate, he was serving as the assistant operations officer of Marine Aircraft Group 12 at MCAS Iwakuni, Japan.

At that time he was assigned as the deputy chief of aircraft operations for the Johnson Space Center where he served for 2+1⁄2 years.

As NASA's lead representative to the Russian Aviation and Space Agency (Rosaviakosmos) and its contractors, he provided oversight of all human space flight operations, logistics, and technical functions, including NASA's mission operations in Korolev and crew training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

Upon his return to Houston, Cabana was assigned briefly as the deputy manager of International Space Station (ISS) Program.

During 66 orbits of the Earth, the five-man crew successfully deployed the Ulysses spacecraft, starting the interplanetary probe on its four-year journey, via Jupiter, to investigate the polar regions of the Sun; operated the Shuttle Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument (SSBUV) to map atmospheric ozone levels; activated a controlled "fire in space" experiment (the Solid Surface Combustion Experiment, or SSCE); and conducted numerous other middeck experiments involving radiation measurements, polymer membrane production, and microgravity effects on plants.

After completing 115 orbits of the Earth in 175 hours, Discovery landed at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on December 9, 1992.

The crew conducted the second International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2) mission utilizing the long Spacelab module in the payload bay.

During the record-setting 15-day flight, the crew conducted experiments that focused on materials and life sciences research in a microgravity environment paving the way for future operations and cooperation aboard International Space Station.

Additionally, the crew performed the initial activation and first ingress of the International Space Station preparing it for future assembly missions and full-time occupation.