Frederick W. Sturckow

Infobox Astronaut
name =Frederick Wilford "Rick" Sturckow

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type =NASA Astronaut
nationality =American
status =Active
date_birth =August 11, 1961
place_birth =La Mesa, California
occupation =Test Pilot
rank =Colonel, USMC
selection =1994 NASA Group
time =37d 12h 42m
mission =STS-88, STS-105, STS-117
insignia =

Frederick Wilford "Rick" Sturckow (born August 11, 1961) is a United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut.

Personal

Sturckow was born La Mesa, California but considers Lakeside, California to be his hometown. He is married to the former Michele A. Street of Great Mills, Maryland. He enjoys flying and physical training (PT). His father, Karl H. Sturckow, resides in Lakeside and his mother, Janette R. Sturckow, resides in La Mesa. He was a member of the Marine Corps Association (MCA) and a former member of Society of Experimental Test Pilots (SETP).

Education

Sturckow graduated from Grossmont High School, La Mesa, California, in 1978. He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1984.

Awards and honors

Defense Superior Service Medal, Single Mission Air Medal with Combat “V”, Strike/Flight Air Medals (4), Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal, Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, NASA Space Flight Medals (2).

Military career

Sturckow was commissioned in December 1984. An honor graduate of The Basic School, he earned his wings in April 1987. Following initial F/A-18 training at VFA-125, he reported to VMFA-333, MCAS Beaufort, South Carolina. While assigned to VMFA-333 he made an overseas deployment to Japan, Korea, and the Philippines and was then selected to attend the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN) in March 1990. In August 1990, he deployed to Sheik Isa Air Base, Bahrain for a period of eight months. Sturckow flew a total of forty-one combat missions during Operation Desert Storm. In January 1992 he attended the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, California. In 1993 he reported to the Naval Air Warfare Center, Aircraft Division, Patuxent River, Maryland for duty as the F/A-18 E/F Project Pilot. Sturckow also flew a wide variety of projects and classified programs as an F/A-18 test pilot.

He has logged over 4,000 flight hours and has flown over 50 different aircraft.

NASA career

Selected by NASA in December 1994, Sturckow reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995. He completed a year of training and evaluation and was assigned to work technical issues for the Vehicle Systems and Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office. He currently serves as Deputy for the Shuttle Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office, and also serves as Lead for Kennedy Space Center Operations Support. Sturckow has flown twice and has logged over 568 hours in space. He served as pilot on STS-88 in 1998 (the first International Space Station assembly mission), and most recently on STS-105 in 2001. Sturckow was the commander of the STS-117 mission. On July 15, 2008 Sturckow was selected as the commander of the STS-128 mission set to launch July 30, 2009.

ee also

References

* [http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/sturckow.html NASA Biography]
* [http://www.spacefacts.de/bios/astronauts/english/sturckow_frederick.htm Spacefacts biography of Frederick W. Sturckow]