Douglas Wheelock | |
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Born | Douglas Harry Wheelock May 5, 1960 Binghamton, New York, U.S. |
Other names | Wheels |
Education | United States Military Academy (BS) Georgia Institute of Technology (MS) |
Call sign | KF5BOC [1] |
Space career | |
NASA astronaut | |
Rank | Colonel, USA |
Time in space | 178d 9h 34m |
Selection | NASA Group 17 (1998) |
Total EVAs | 6 |
Total EVA time | 43h 30m [2] |
Missions | STS-120 Soyuz TMA-19 (Expedition 24/25) |
Mission insignia | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Douglas Harry "Wheels" Wheelock (born May 5, 1960) is an American engineer and astronaut. He has flown in space twice, logging 178 days on the Space Shuttle, International Space Station, and Russian Soyuz. On July 12, 2011, Wheelock announced that he would be returning to active duty with the United States Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. [3] He is currently working with NASA to test the Orion spacecraft at the Glenn Research Center in Plum Brook, Ohio. [4]
Douglas Wheelock was born in Binghamton, New York to Olin and Margaret Wheelock. In a pre-flight interview, Wheelock stated that he was inspired to become an astronaut at an early age. He also stated that a major turning point in his life was the Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969. [5] In 1978 Wheelock graduated from Windsor Central High School in Windsor, New York before attending the United States Military Academy at West Point. [6] He earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1992.
Wheelock spent four years as a cadet at West Point, graduating in the class of 1983 with a Bachelor of Science degree in applied science and engineering. After graduation he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army's Infantry Branch and entered flight school the next year. In September 1984, then Lieutenant Wheelock graduated at the top of his flight class and was designated an army aviator. He subsequently served in the Pacific as a combat aviation section leader, platoon leader, company executive officer, battalion operations officer, and commander of an air cavalry troop in the 9th Cavalry. He was later assigned to the Aviation Directorate of Combat Developments as an advanced weapons research and development engineer.
Wheelock was selected as a member of Class 104 at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and upon completion was assigned as an experimental test pilot with the Army Aviation Technical Test Center (ATTC). His flight testing was focused in the areas of tactical reconnaissance and surveillance systems in the OH-58D, UH-60, RU-21 and C-23 aircraft. He served as division chief for fixed-wing testing of airborne signal and imagery intelligence systems in support of the National Program Office for Intelligence and Electronic Warfare.
While on active duty, Wheelock received a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech in 1992. In August 1996 Wheelock was assigned to the Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle integration test engineer. His technical duties involved engineering liaison for launch and landing operations of the Space Shuttle. He was selected as the vehicle integration test team lead for the joint Space Shuttle and Russian Space Station Mir mission STS-86, and lead engineer for International Space Station hardware fit checks.
Wheelock is a graduate of the Army Airborne and Air Assault Courses, the Infantry and Aviation Officer Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Material Acquisition Management Course, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. In July 2011, Wheelock left for a tour of duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A dual-rated master army aviator astronaut, he has logged over 2,500 flight hours in 43 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. [6]
In August 1998 Wheelock reported for NASA astronaut candidate training. Having completed the initial two years of intensive Space Shuttle and Space Station training, he was assigned to the Astronaut Office ISS Operations Branch as a Russian Liaison, participating in the testing and integration of Russian hardware and software products developed for the ISS. He worked extensively with the Energia Aerospace Company in Moscow, Russia, developing and verifying dual-language procedures for ISS crews. Wheelock led joint U.S./Russian teams to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to oversee bench reviews, inventory, loading and launch of the first four uncrewed ISS resupply capsules.
In 2001, Wheelock assumed duties as the crew support astronaut for the ISS Expedition 2 crew, which was in orbit for 147 days from March 2001 to August 2001, and for the ISS Expedition 4 crew, which was on orbit for 195 days from December 2001 to June 2002. He was the primary contact for all crew needs, coordination, planning and interactions, and was the primary representative of the crews while they were in orbit. In August 2002, Wheelock was assigned as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas. In this role, he was the primary communication link between crews in orbit and the ground support team in the Control Center. His work as a CAPCOM culminated in his assignment as the lead CAPCOM for the ISS Expedition 8 mission, which was 194 days in duration.
In July 2004, Wheelock served as an aquanaut during the NEEMO 6 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory, living and working underwater for ten days. [7]
In January 2005 and again in 2016, he was assigned as NASA's Director of Operations – Russia where he served at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. He was responsible for supporting Russia-based training, logistic, and administrative needs of NASA astronauts preparing for flight on the ISS. Wheelock was the primary liaison between Star City and NASA operations in Houston, including medical, training, science, contracting, public affairs, and administration departments. He was also responsible for liaison duties between NASA and the Russian Space Agency, as well as the Russian aerospace industry. [6]
After his first spaceflight, Wheelock was assigned as the backup to T.J. Creamer for the Soyuz TMA-17/Expedition 22/Expedition 23 mission to the International Space Station. Creamer completed a successful 163-day mission from 2009 to 2010. [8]
As of September 2019, Wheelock is currently working as an astronaut trainer testing systems aboard the Orion spacecraft. [4] That month, he contributed to an article in The Columbus Dispatch detailing the inaccuracies of the space science fiction film Ad Astra . [9]
On October 23, 2007, Wheelock launched on his first spaceflight aboard Space Shuttle Discovery. During the STS-120 mission, Wheelock was Mission Specialist 3 on a multinational crew whose mission was to deliver the Node 2 module to the International Space Station. Wheelock participated in three spacewalks with fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski in order to perform mission critical tasks on the exterior of the Station. The spacewalks involved outfitting the Node 2 module, storing an S-band antenna, work on the Integrated Truss Structure, and External Stowage Platform 2. During the mission a solar array on the P6 truss tore requiring an emergency repair by Wheelock and Parazynski. Parazynski attached cufflinks to the solar array allowing it to expand without additional damage. Wheelock orbited the Earth 238 times during the 15-day mission. [10]
Wheelock launched to the International Space Station on June 15, 2010, aboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft with Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker.
Wheelock joined the Expedition 24 crew in progress. [11] During the mission he participated in several scientific investigations. On July 31, 2010, a pump module on the exterior of the Space Station failed. Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson made three spacewalks to replace the module, during which he sustained long-term damage to his vision. [12] [9] The failed pump module was later returned home on STS-135. [13]
On September 22, 2010, Wheelock took command of the International Space Station at the beginning of Expedition 25. [14] He is the first U.S. Army officer to command the ISS. [15] Wheelock and his crew continued science and maintenance of the space station. Wheelock is sharing pictures of the Earth, station and views of space via Twitter, as Soichi Noguchi did before him. [16] In September 2010, Wheelock tweeted photos from space of Hurricane Earl. [17] He also participated in a NASA Tweetup on March 16, 2011. [18]
He became the first person to "check in" from space on October 22, using the mobile social networking application Foursquare. Wheelock's check-in to the International Space Station launched a partnership between NASA and Foursquare to connect its users to the space agency, enabling them to explore the universe and discover Earth. [19]
He returned to Earth on November 26, 2010, aboard the Soyuz.
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Doug has also been awarded:
His hometown is Windsor, New York. Wheelock's parents, Olin and Margaret Wheelock, reside in upstate New York.
In 1989 he was selected by the U.S. Jaycees as one of "Ten Outstanding Young Men of America". In 1990 the Veterans of Foreign Wars selected Wheelock as an "Outstanding Spokesman for Freedom".
Wheelock is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the Society of American Military Engineers, the Association of the United States Army, and the Army Aviation Association of America.
Yuri Ivanovich Malenchenko is a retired Russian cosmonaut. Malenchenko became the first person to marry in space, on 10 August 2003, when he married Ekaterina Dmitrieva, who was in Texas, while he was 240 miles (390 km) over New Zealand, on the International Space Station. As of December 2023, Malenchenko ranks third for career time in space due to his time on both Mir and the International Space Station (ISS). He is a former commander of the International Space Station.
Yury Valentinovich Lonchakov is a Russian former cosmonaut and a veteran of three space missions. He has spent 200 days in space and has conducted two spacewalks. From 2014 to 2017, Lonchakov served as head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
STS-106 was a 2000 Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle Atlantis.
Patrick Graham Forrester is a NASA astronaut, engineer, and former Chief of the Astronaut Office. He is a retired United States Army colonel and Army aviator. He is married and has two children.
Scott Joseph Kelly is an American engineer, retired astronaut, and naval aviator. A veteran of four space flights, Kelly commanded the International Space Station (ISS) on Expeditions 26, 45, and 46.
Scott Edward Parazynski is an American physician and a former NASA astronaut. A veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks, Parazynski's latest mission was STS-120 in October 2007 – highlighted by a dramatic, unplanned EVA to repair a live solar array. In May 2016 he was inducted into the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame. He retired from NASA in March 2009 to pursue entrepreneurial opportunities in the private sector, and he is currently the CEO of a technology start-up. He is the first person to have both flown in space and summited Mount Everest, the highest point on Earth. He describes his life's experiences in his memoir The Sky Below.
Fyodor Nikolayevich Yurchikhin is a Russian cosmonaut of Greek descent, engineer and RSC Energia test-pilot who has flown on five spaceflights. His first spaceflight was a 10-day Space Shuttle mission STS-112. His second was a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station (ISS) as a flight engineer for Expedition 15; for this mission he was launched in the Soyuz TMA-10 spacecraft. He has undertaken two further long-duration stays aboard the ISS, as a crew member of Expedition 24 / 25. For this mission he was launched with the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-19, and he landed in November 2010, also with the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft. He served as Soyuz commander for his fourth mission aboard Soyuz TMA-09M, as flight engineer for Expedition 36 and ISS commander for Expedition 37. In April 2017, Yurchikhin launched on Soyuz MS-04 for the fifth spaceflight of his career, a six-month mission to the ISS as part of Expedition 51 and 52, for which he was the commander.
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Soichi Noguchi is a Japanese aeronautical engineer and former JAXA astronaut. His first spaceflight was as a mission specialist aboard STS-114 on 26 July 2005 for NASA's first "return to flight" Space Shuttle mission after the Columbia disaster. He was also in space as part of the Soyuz TMA-17 crew and Expedition 22 to the International Space Station (ISS), returning to Earth on 2 June 2010. He is the sixth Japanese astronaut to fly in space, the fifth to fly on the Space Shuttle, and the first to fly on Crew Dragon.
Timothy Lennart "Tim" Kopra is an engineer, a Colonel in the United States Army and a retired NASA astronaut. He served aboard the International Space Station as a flight engineer for Expedition 20, returning to Earth aboard Space Shuttle Discovery on the STS-128 mission on September 11, 2009. He returned to the ISS for the second time in December 2015, as part of Expedition 46 and as the commander of 47.
Timothy John "T. J." Creamer is a NASA flight director, retired astronaut and a colonel in the United States Army. Creamer was born in Fort Huachuca, Arizona, but considers Upper Marlboro, Maryland, to be his hometown. He is married to the former Margaret E. Hammer. They have two children.
Shannon Walker is an American physicist and a NASA astronaut selected in 2004. She launched on her first mission into space on June 25, 2010, onboard Soyuz TMA-19 and spent over 163 days in space.
Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer, JAXA astronaut, and former commander of the International Space Station. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space.
Michael Reed Barratt is an American physician and a NASA astronaut. Specializing in aerospace medicine, he served as a flight surgeon for NASA before his selection as an astronaut, and has played a role in developing NASA's space medicine programs for both the Shuttle-Mir Program and International Space Station. His first spaceflight was a long-duration mission to the International Space Station, as a flight engineer in the Expedition 19 and 20 crew. In March 2011, Barratt completed his second spaceflight as a crew member of STS-133. Barratt will pilot the SpaceX Crew-8 mission in spring 2024.
STS-134 was the penultimate mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program and the 25th and last spaceflight of Space ShuttleEndeavour. This flight delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer and an ExPRESS Logistics Carrier to the International Space Station. Mark Kelly served as the mission commander. STS-134 was expected to be the final Space Shuttle mission if STS-135 did not receive funding from Congress. However, in February 2011, NASA stated that STS-135 would fly "regardless" of the funding situation. STS-135, flown by Atlantis, took advantage of the processing for STS-335, the Launch on Need mission that would have been necessary if the STS-134 crew became stranded in orbit.
Expedition 26 was the 26th long-duration mission to the International Space Station. The expedition's first three crew members – one US astronaut and two Russian cosmonauts – arrived at the station on board Soyuz TMA-01M on 10 October 2010. Expedition 26 officially began the following month on 26 November, when half of the crew of the previous mission, Expedition 25, returned to Earth on board Soyuz TMA-19. The rest of the Expedition 26 crew – one US astronaut, one Russian cosmonaut and one ESA astronaut – joined the trio already on board when their spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-20, docked with the station on 17 December 2010.
Expedition 23 was the 23rd long-duration mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition 23 began with the Soyuz TMA-16 undocking on 18 March 2010. Shortly thereafter cosmonauts Aleksandr Skvortsov and Mikhail Korniyenko and astronaut Tracy Caldwell Dyson arrived at the Space Station on Soyuz TMA-18 on 4 April 2010. The Soyuz spacecraft lifted off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome at 00:04 EST on 2 April 2010.
Since construction started, the International Space Station programme has had to deal with several maintenance issues, unexpected problems and failures. These incidents have affected the assembly timeline, led to periods of reduced capabilities of the station and in some cases could have forced the crew to abandon the space station for safety reasons, had these problems not been resolved.
Tracy Caldwell Dyson is an American chemist and NASA astronaut. She was a mission specialist on Space Shuttle Endeavour flight STS-118 in August 2007 and part of the Expedition 23 and Expedition 24 crew on the International Space Station from April 2010 to September 2010. She has completed three spacewalks, logging more than 22 hours of extravehicular activity. She is scheduled to return to space on March 21, 2024 for a third time on board Soyuz MS-25 for a six-month mission onboard the ISS.
Anatoli Alekseyevich Ivanishin is a former Russian cosmonaut. His first visit to space was to the International Space Station on board the Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft as an Expedition 29 / Expedition 30 crew member, launching in November 2011 and returning in April 2012. Ivanishin was the Commander of the International Space Station for Expedition 49.
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration .