John Oliver Creighton John Oliver Creighton ( born April 28 , 1943 ) is a former NASA astronaut who flew three Space Shuttle missions . Education . He graduated from Ballard High School , Seattle , Washington , in 1961 ; received a bachelor of science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1966 and a master of science in Administration of Science and Technology from George Washington University in 1978 . Military career . Creighton started flight training following graduation from the United States Naval Academy and received his aviator wings in October 1967 . He was with squadron VF - 154 from July 1968 to May 1970 , flying F - 4J Phantoms and made two combat deployments to Vietnam aboard the USS " Ranger " . From June 1970 to February 1971 , he attended the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland , and upon graduation was assigned as a project test pilot with the Service Test Division at NAS Patuxent River . During this two year tour of duty , he served as the F - 14 Tomcat engine development project officer . In July 1973 , Creighton commenced a four year assignment with VF - 2 and became a member of the first F - 14 operational squadron , completing two deployments aboard the USS " Enterprise " to the Western Pacific . He returned to the United States in July 1977 and was assigned to the Naval Air Test Center ' s Strike Directorate as operations officer and F - 14 program manager . He has logged over 6 , 000 hours flying time , the majority of it in jet fighters , and has completed 500 carrier landings and 175 combat missions . NASA career . Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978 , Creighton became an astronaut in August 1979 . During the following four years he held a variety of technical assignments in support of the Space Shuttle Program . Following his first flight , Creighton became the astronaut representative to the Shuttle Program Manager . During the ensuing two years , Creighton participated in all the key decisions following the " Challenger " disaster helping to shape the plan for resuming safe manned space flight . Starting with STS - 26 , Creighton served as Lead " CAPCOM " for the first four Space Shuttle flights . In March 1989 he was assigned to command STS - 36 but continued to serve as Head of the Mission Support Branch in the Astronaut Office until commencing full - time training for his upcoming flight . Following his second flight , Creighton headed up the Operations Development Branch within the Astronaut Office for one year prior to resuming full - time training for his next command . Creighton served as pilot on STS - 51 - G ( June 17 – 24 , 1985 ) , was spacecraft commander on STS - 36 ( February 28 to March 4 , 1990 ) and STS - 48 ( September 12 – 18 , 1991 ) , and has logged over 403 hours in space . Captain Creighton left NASA and retired from the Navy in July 1992 . He was formerly a test pilot and worked in Aircraft Marketing & Delivery with the Boeing Airplane Company until he retired in 2007 . Space flights . STS - 51 - G " Discovery " ( June 17 – 24 , 1985 ) was a 7 - day mission during which the crew deployed communications satellites for Mexico ( Morelos ) , the Arab League ( Arabsat ) , and the United States ( AT & T Telstar ) . They used the Remote Manipulator System ( RMS ) to deploy and later retrieve the SPARTAN satellite which performed 17 hours of X - ray astronomy experiments while separated from the Space Shuttle . In addition , the crew activated the Automated Directional Solidification Furnace ( ADSF ) , six Getaway Special s , participated in biomedical experiments , and conducted a laser tracking experiment as part of the Strategic Defense Initiative . Mission duration was 112 Earth orbits in 169 hours and 39 minutes . STS - 36 " Atlantis " ( February 28 to March 4 , 1990 ) carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads . Mission duration was 72 Earth orbits in 106 hours , 19 minutes , 43 seconds . STS - 48 " Discovery " ( September 12 – 18 , 1991 ) was a 5 - day mission during which the crew deployed the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite ( UARS ) which is designed to provide scientists with their first complete data set on the upper atmosphere ' s chemistry , winds and energy inputs . The crew also conducted numerous secondary experiments ranging from growing protein crystals , to studying how fluids and structures react in weightlessness . Mission duration was 81 Earth orbits in 128 hours , 27 minutes , 34 seconds . Political career . He unsuccessfully ran as a Republican candidate for the Washington State Senate in 1997 . Personal life . He was born on April 28 , 1943 , in Orange , Texas , but considers Seattle , Washington , to be his hometown . He is married to the former Terry Stanford of Little Rock , Arkansas . Organizations . He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Association of Space Explorers . Honors . He was awarded the Defense Superior Service Medal , Legion of Merit , Distinguished Flying Cross , ten Air Medal s , the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal , the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry , the NASA Distinguished Service Medal , NASA Leadership Medal , three NASA Space Flight Medal s , the French Legion of Honor and the Saudi Arabia King Fahd Medal .