 frederick wilford "rick" sturckow (born august 11, 1961) is an engineer, united states marine corps officer and a nasa astronaut. sturckow is a veteran of four space shuttle missions. he flew on sts-88 and sts-105 as a pilot and sts-117 and sts-128 as a commander. all four missions docked with the international space station, making sturckow one of two people to visit the station four times. sturckow later was assigned to the johnson space center as a capcom. he left nasa in may 2013 to become a pilot for virgin galactic.http://science.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/05/14/18257221-virgin-galactic-hires-ex-astronaut-veteran-pilot-to-ferry-space-tourists?lite ==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. 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). sturckow has the nickname "cj", which stands for "caustic junior". it was given to him when he was a young marine, because he resembled a squadron commander who was appropriately called âcausticâ. ==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 âvâ, strike/flight air medals (4), navy and marine corps commendation medal, navy and marine corps achievement medal, nasa space flight medals (4). ==military career== sturckow was commissioned into the u.s. marine corps in december 1984. an honor graduate of the basic school, he earned his aviator wings in april 1987. following initial [[f/a-
1961_births American_astronauts American_military_personnel_of_the_Gulf_War American_test_pilots California_Polytechnic_State_University,_San_Luis_Obispo_alumni Living_people NASA_civilian_astronauts People_from_San_Diego_County,_California Recipients_of_the_Air_Medal Recipients_of_the_Defense_Superior_Service_Medal U.S._Air_Force_Test_Pilot_School_alumni United_States_Marine_Corps_astronauts United_States_Marine_Corps_officers United_States_Naval_Aviators Virgin_Galactic