Jim Wetherbee

Infobox Astronaut
name =James D. Wetherbee


type =NASA Astronaut
status =Retired
nationality =American
date_birth =November 27, 1952
date_death =
place_birth =Flushing, Queens
place_death =
occupation =Fighter pilot
rank =Captain, USN
selection =1984 NASA Group
time =66d 10h 23m
mission =STS-32, STS-52, STS-63, STS-86, STS-102, STS-113
insignia =|

James Donald "Wxb" Wetherbee (born 27 November 1952) is a American Naval officer and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six Space Shuttle missions and is the only American to have commanded five spaceflight missions.

Wetherbee was raised in Huntington Station, New York. [Kerr, Kathleen. [http://www.newsday.com/community/guide/lihistory/ny-century_of_science_dissons,0,7662594.story "They Began Here: Around the country, leading thinkers in health and science can trace their roots to Long Island"] , "Newsday", July 16, 2008. Accessed September 17, 2008.] He earned a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame before receiving his commission in the United States Navy. A Navy test pilot, Wetherbee worked extensively on the F/A-18 aircraft before being selected as an astronaut candidate in 1984. He piloted mission STS-32 in 1990 and commanded missions STS-52 (1992), STS-63 (1995), STS-86 (1997), STS-102 (2001), and STS-113 (2002). The final three missions were dockings with Mir and the International Space Station; STS-113 was the last Space shuttle Mission before the Columbia disaster.

Wetherbee retired from NASA in January 2005.

Wetherbee is married and has two children.

References

External links

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wetherbe.html NASA biography of Jim Wetherbee]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/wetherbee_james.htm Spacefacts biography of Jim Wetherbee]