Kenneth Cockrell
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Kenneth D. Cockrell (born 9 April 1950 in Austin, Texas) is an American astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions.
Cockrell earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972 and received his commission in the United States Navy that same year. He was trained a pilot and was stations from 1975 to 1978 aboard the aircraft carrier USS Midway. Cockrell then became a test pilot for several years before serving two tours of duty aboard the USS Constellation. In 1987, Cockrell resigned from the Navy and joined the Aircraft Operations Division of Johnson Space Center as a research pilot.
Cockrell was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1990 and made his first spaceflight in 1993 on mission STS-56. He piloted STS-69 in 1995 and commanded STS-80 (1996), STS-98 (2001) and STS-111 (2002).
External link
- NASA Biography (http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/cockrell.html)