Brent W . Jett , Jr . Brent Ward Jett , Jr . is a Captain in the United States Navy and a NASA astronaut . Personal data . Born October 5 , 1958 , in Pontiac , Michigan , but considers Fort Lauderdale , Florida , to be his hometown . Married to Janet Leigh Lyon of Patuxent River , Maryland . Naval experience . Jett was designated a Naval Aviator in March 1983 , and reported to VF - 101 at Naval Air Station Oceana , Virginia for initial F - 14 Tomcat training . Upon completion of this training , he was assigned to VF - 74 and made overseas deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and Indian Ocean aboard the USS " Saratoga " . While assigned to VF - 74 , he was designated as an airwing qualified Landing Signal Officer ( LSO ) and also attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School ( TOPGUN ) . Jett was selected for the Naval Postgraduate School - Test Pilot School Cooperative Education Program in July 1986 , and completed 15 months of graduate work at Monterey , California , before attending the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School in June 1989 . After graduation in June 1990 , he worked as a project test pilot at the Carrier Stability Department of the Strike Aircraft Test Directorate , Naval Air Test Center , flying the F - 14A / B / D , T - 45A , and A - 7E . Jett returned to the operational Navy in September 1991 and was again assigned to VF - 74 , flying the F - 14B aboard the USS " Saratoga " . He has logged over 4 , 000 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft and has over 450 carrier landings . NASA experience . Selected by NASA in March 1992 , Jett reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1992 . After two years of various technical assignments in the Astronaut Office , Jett was assigned to his first mission as the pilot of STS - 72 . A year later he again served as pilot on STS - 81 . From June 1997 to February 1998 , he served as NASA Director of Operations at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center , Star City , Russia . Two years later he was the Commander on STS - 97 . Finally , he served as the Commander of Space Shuttle " Atlantis " on STS - 115 . A veteran of four space missions , he has traveled over 12 . 1 million miles , and logged a total of 41 days , 18 hours , and 1 minute in space . Jett retired from the U . S . Navy in July 2007 , but remained with NASA . In November 2007 , he was appointed as Director of Flight Crew Operations , a position he currently holds . Space flight experience . STS - 72 : " Endeavour " ( January 11 – 20 , 1996 ) was a 9 - day flight during which the crew retrieved the Space Flyer Unit ( launched from Japan 10 - months earlier ) , deployed and retrieved the OAST - Flyer , and conducted two spacewalks to demonstrate and evaluate techniques to be used in the assembly of the International Space Station . STS - 81 : " Atlantis " ( January 12 – 22 , 1997 ) was the fifth in a series of joint missions between the U . S . Space Shuttle and the Russian Space Station Mir and the second one involving an exchange of U . S . astronauts . In five days of docked operations more than three tons of food , water , experiment equipment and samples were moved back and forth between the two spacecraft . STS - 97 : " Endeavour " ( November 30 to December 11 , 2000 ) was the fifth American mission to build and enhance the capabilities of the International Space Station . STS - 97 delivered the first set of U . S . - provided solar arrays and batteries as well as radiators to provide cooling . Three spacewalks were conducted to complete assembly operations while the arrays were attached and unfurled . A communications system for voice and telemetry was also installed . STS - 115 : " Atlantis " ( September 9 , 2006 - September 21 , 2006 ) was the first assembly mission to the International Space Station after the " Columbia " disaster . STS - 115 delivered a new truss segment , including solar panels , to the station .