Robert L . Stewart Robert Lee Stewart is a retired Brigadier General of the United States Army and a former NASA astronaut . Personal . Stewart was born August 13 , 1942 , in Washington , D . C . He graduated from Hattiesburg High School in Hattiesburg , Mississippi in 1960 . He also received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics from The University of Southern Mississippi in 1964 , and a master of science in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1972 . He has been a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots , Association of Space Explorers , Phi Eta Sigma , and the Scabbard and Blade ( a military honor society ) . Stewart is married and has two children . His interests include woodworking , photography , and skiing . Military career . Stewart entered on active duty with the United States Army in May 1964 and was assigned as an air defense artillery director at the 32nd NORAD Region Headquarters ( SAGE ) , Gunter Air Force Base , Alabama . In July 1966 , after completing rotary wing training at Fort Wolters , Texas , and Fort Rucker , Alabama , he was designated an Army Aviator . He flew 1 , 035 hours of combat time from August 1966 to 1967 , primarily as a fire team leader in the armed helicopter platoon of " A " Company , 101st Aviation Battalion ( redesignated 336th Assault Helicopter Company ) . He was an instructor pilot at the U . S . Army Primary Helicopter School — serving 1 year in the pre - solo / primary - 1 phase of instruction and about 6 months as commander of methods of instruction flight III , training rated aviators to become instructor pilots . He is a graduate of the U . S . Army ' s Air Defense Artillery School ' s Air Defense Officers Advanced Course and Guided Missile Systems Officers Course . Stewart served in Seoul , Korea , from 1972 to 1973 , with the 309th Aviation Battalion ( Combat ) as a battalion operations officer and battalion executive officer . He next attended the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School at NAS Patuxent River , Maryland , completing the Rotary Wing Test Pilot Course in 1974 , and was then assigned as an experimental test pilot to the U . S . Army Aviation Engineering Flight Activity at Edwards Air Force Base , California . His duties there included chief of the integrated systems test division , as well as participating in engineering flight tests of UH - 1 and AH - 1 helicopters and U - 21 and OV - 1 fixed wing aircraft , serving as project officer and senior test pilot on the Hughes YAH - 64 advanced attack helicopter during government competitive testing ; and participation with Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation test pilots in developing an electronic automatic flight control system for the new Army transport helicopter — the UH - 60A Black Hawk . He has military and civilian experience in 38 types of airplanes and helicopters and logged approximately 6 , 000 hours total flight time . NASA career . Stewart became a NASA astronaut in August 1979 . His technical duties in the Astronaut Office included : testing and evaluation of the entry flight control systems for STS - 1 ( the first Space Shuttle orbital mission ) , ascent abort procedures development , and payload coordination . He also served as support crewman for STS - 4 , and Ascent / Orbit CAPCOM for STS - 5 . He served as a mission specialist on STS - 41 - B in 1984 and STS - 51 - J in 1985 , and logged a total of 289 hours in space , including approximately 12 hours of EVA operations . He was the first active duty U . S . Army soldier to make a spaceflight . In 1986 , while in training for his scheduled third flight to be known as STS - 61 - K , Stewart was selected by the Army for promotion to Brigadier General . Upon accepting this promotion , Stewart was reassigned from NASA to be the Deputy Commanding General , U . S . Army Strategic Defense Command , in Huntsville , Alabama . In this capacity Stewart managed research efforts in developing ballistic missile defense technology . In 1989 he was reassigned as Director of Plans , United States Space Command , Colorado Springs , Colorado . Later career . Stewart retired from the Army in 1992 and currently makes his home in Woodland Park , Colorado . He is presently employed as Director , Advanced Programs , Nichols Research Corporation , Colorado Springs , Colorado . Spaceflight experience . STS - 41 - B " Challenger " ( February 3 – 11 , 1984 ) was launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , and returned to land there 8 days later . During the mission , Stewart and McCandless participated in two extravehicular activities ( EVAs ) to conduct first flight evaluations of the Manned Maneuvering Units ( MMUs ) . These EVAs represented man ' s first untethered operations from a spacecraft in flight . Upon completion of this mission Stewart became the first Army officer awarded the Army Astronaut Badge . STS - 51 - J " Atlantis " ( October 3 – 7 , 1985 ) was launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , and after 98 hours of orbital operations returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base , California . It was the second Space Shuttle Department of Defense mission , and the maiden voyage of " Atlantis " . During the mission he was responsible for a number of on - orbit activities .