Kevin P. Chilton

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Kevin P. Chilton
Kevin P. Chilton
Country: United States
Organization: NASA
selected on June 5, 1987
( 12th NASA Group )
Calls: 3 space flights
Start of the
first space flight:
May 7, 1992
Landing of the
last space flight:
March 31, 1996
Time in space: 29d 8h 22m
retired on August 1998
Space flights

Kevin Patrick "Chily" Chilton (born November 3, 1954 in Los Angeles , California ) is a retired American astronaut and general in the United States Air Force . Between June 2006 and October 2007 he was Commander in Chief of the Air Force Space Command , then until January 2011 Commander in Chief of the US Strategic Command .

Military career

Chilton received a Bachelor of Science degree in engineering from the US Air Force Academy in 1976 , his officer license as a second lieutenant and in 1977 with the help of a Guggenheim scholarship a master of science in mechanical engineering from Columbia University .

Chilton joined the US Air Force in 1976 . After completing his pilot training in 1978 and receiving his promotion to First Lieutenant on June 2, 1978 , he was used as a fighter pilot and pilot instructor in South Korea , Japan and the Philippines until 1980 . After being promoted to captain on June 2, 1980, Chilton was transferred as a squadron pilot to Kadena Air Base in Okinawa . In 1982 Chilton returned to the United States and attended the Squadron Officer School at Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama . Until he was selected for the US Air Force Test Pilot School in 1984, he worked as a flight instructor at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico . He then worked as a test pilot at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida . During this time he was also promoted to major on May 2, 1985 .

Astronaut activity

Chilton as an astronaut

In August 1987, Chilton was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate. After completing his training as a shuttle pilot, he worked in the development department of the astronauts office. He was a safety officer for NASA's T-38 aircraft, head of the support team at the Kennedy Space Center, and chief liaison officer for numerous shuttle flights. In addition, Chilton was Assistant Program Manager for the International Space Station (ISS) from May 1996 to August 1998 . During this time he was on June 2, 1989 Lieutenant Colonel and on 1 January 1993 for Colonel promoted.

STS-49

On May 7, 1992, Chilton flew into space for the first time as a pilot on the maiden flight of the space shuttle Endeavor . The aim of this mission was to salvage the Intelsat VI-F3 communications satellite , which had been launched two years earlier, for repair. It was not until the third external mission (EVA) that the satellite could finally be captured by hand. As a result, Intelsat received a new apogee motor so that it could enter a designated geostationary orbit . Structures and tools were tested at another EVA.

STS-59

His next assignment as a shuttle pilot was on April 9, 1994. The so-called Space Radar Laboratory Mission (SRL) was carried out on board the space shuttle Endeavor. SRL consisted of three large radar systems and a carbon monoxide sensor that were used to investigate the earth's surface and the atmosphere. Real-time observations of surface features and weather conditions along with over 14,000 photographs helped the researchers evaluate the data.

STS-76

On March 22, 1996, Chilton took off as commander of the space shuttle Atlantis to the Russian space station Mir . On the third rendezvous mission, the astronaut Shannon Lucid was brought to the Mir space station. In addition, supplies, equipment and experimental material were delivered, various devices were installed outboard of the station and technological and biological experiments were carried out in the Spacehab .

Back to military service

In 1998, Chilton left NASA, returned to the US Air Force, and was Deputy Director of Operations at the Air Force Space Command headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base , Colorado until May 1999 . He then took over from May 1999 to September 2000 again a troop command and commanded the 9th US Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale Air Force Base in California. Before this assignment, he was promoted to Brigadier General on May 1, 1999 .

In April 2000, Chilton was transferred to the Joint Staff , where he served as director of political-military cooperation for the Asia-Pacific region and the Middle East . Two years later, on April 1, 2002, he was promoted to major general and in August 2002 - also in the Department of Defense - he took over the post of director of programs in the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air at the headquarters of the US Air Force Force for planning and programs. From August 2004 to August 2005, Chilton served in the Air Staff as Acting Assistant Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force and, after being promoted to Lieutenant General on August 9, 2005, took over as Commander of the 8th US Air Force on the Barksdale until June 2006 Air Force Base in Louisiana and was also Joint Functional Component Commander for Space and Global Strike of the US Strategic Command at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska . On June 26, 2006, Chilton was promoted to general and transferred to Peterson AFB, where he commanded the Air Force Space Command .

On October 3, 2007, Chilton took over the - through the promotion of General James E. Cartwright - command of the US Strategic Command , which he led until his retirement on January 28, 2011. General Chilton is the only former astronaut to achieve the four-star rating. Lieutenant General Tom Stafford, Vice Admiral Dick Truly and Lieutenant General Susan Helms have the rank of general with three stars.

Private

Chilton is married and has four children.

Awards

Selection of decorations, sorted based on the Order of Precedence of the Military Awards:

He was also awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal with double oak leaves, the NASA Exceptional Service Medal and the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal .

References

See also

swell

  1. ^ Gen Kevin P. Chilton assumes command of USSTRATCOM. (No longer available online.) US Strategic Command, Oct. 3, 2007, archived from the original on Sept. 15, 2012 ; accessed on September 19, 2012 (English).

Web links

Commons : Kevin P. Chilton  - Collection of images, videos and audio files