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 served as pilot on STS-88 in 1998 (the first International Space Station assembly mission), and on STS-105 in 2001. Sturckow was the commander of the STS-117 mission in 2007, and of the STS-128 mission launched on August 28, 2009. Sturckow was also the launch CAPCOM for STS-130 in February 2010, and for STS-131 in April 2010. On January 13, 2011, NASA named Sturckow as the backup commander for STS-134. The appointment allowed the commander, Mark Kelly (who subsequently flew the mission), to continue to support his wife, Congresswoman Gabby Giffords, while she recovered from an attempted assassination.