Christopher Ferguson
Christopher Ferguson | |
---|---|
NASA astronaut | |
Rank | Captain, USN |
Time in space | 40d 10h 3m |
Selection | NASA Group 17 (1998) |
Missions | STS-115 STS-126 STS-135 |
Mission insignia |
Christopher J. "Fergy" Ferguson (born September 1, 1961) is a Boeing commercial astronaut and a retired United States Navy captain and NASA astronaut. He was the pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on his first mission to space, STS-115, which launched on September 9, 2006, and returned to Earth on September 21, 2006. He then commanded STS-126 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour. In 2011, he was assigned as commander of STS-135, which was the final mission of the space shuttle program.
On December 9, 2011, he retired from NASA and became director of Crew and Mission Operations for
Education
Ferguson was born September 1, 1961, in
Military career
Ferguson was commissioned from the
Through June 1994 he was assigned to the Weapons Branch of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate at the
NASA career
Ferguson was selected for astronaut training in 1998 and completed training as a pilot. Ferguson was the deputy chief of the astronaut office prior to his selection to the STS-135 crew and served as
missions.STS-115
Ferguson made his first space flight as pilot of STS-115 in 2006. The mission delivered the second port-side truss segment (ITS P3/P4), a pair of solar arrays (2A and 4A), and batteries to the International Space Station. A total of three spacewalks were performed, during which the crew connected the systems on the installed trusses, prepared them for deployment, and did other maintenance work on the station. He returned to Earth after over 11 days on orbit.
STS-126
Ferguson returned to space for the second time, as commander of STS-126 in 2008. The purpose of the mission, referred to as ULF2 by the ISS program, was to deliver equipment and supplies to the station, to service the Solar Alpha Rotary Joints (SARJ), and repair the problem in the starboard SARJ that had limited its use since STS-120. He returned to Earth after almost 16 days on orbit.
STS-135
Ferguson made his third and last flight as a NASA astronaut, Commanding STS-135, the final mission of the Space Shuttle. The mission's primary cargo was the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM) Raffaello and a Lightweight Multi-Purpose Carrier (LMC), which were delivered to the International Space Station (ISS). The flight of Raffaello marked the only time that Atlantis carried an MPLM. He returned to Earth after 12 days in space.
Post-NASA career
Ferguson retired from NASA in 2011. He currently works for Boeing as director of Crew and Mission Operations for Boeing's Commercial Crew Program.[2] Ferguson was elected to the Astronaut Hall of Fame in January 2022.[3]
Boe-CFT
In July 2018, Boeing announced his assignment to the first human CST-100 orbital test known as
Personal life
Ferguson, who is of Scottish and Polish descent,[6] is married to Sandra and has three children. When he was in space for his wedding anniversary, NASA played the Frankie Valli song "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" as the wake-up music that morning, after which Ferguson wished his wife a happy anniversary.[7]
See also
References
- ^ "NASA Assigns Crews to First Test Flights, Missions on Commercial Spacecraft". NASA. August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 4, 2018.
- ^ Mark Carreau (2012-04-26). "JSC To Support Training, Early Flight Ops For Boeing CST-100 on Aviation Week.com Retrieved on April 30, 2012". Aviationweek.com. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ^ "U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction". www.kennedyspacecenter.com. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
- ^ "I'm taking on a new mission". Twitter. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
- ^ Harwood, William (7 October 2020). "Commander of first piloted Starliner test flight steps down from mission". Spaceflight Now. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
- ^ "Christopher J. Ferguson (CAPTAIN, USN) NASA Astronaut on Poles.org Retrieved on May 9, 2010". Poles.org. 1961-09-01. Retrieved 2014-06-29.
- ^ NASA.gov