Charles J . Precourt Charles Joseph Precourt ( born June 29 , 1955 ) is a retired NASA astronaut . His career in flight began at an early age , and spans his entire lifetime . He served in the US Air Force , piloted numerous jet aircraft , and piloted and commanded the Space Shuttle . Notably , he piloted or commanded several missions which involved docking with the Russian Mir space station and was heavily involved in Russian / US Space relations as well as the International Space Station collaboration . He retired from the USAF with the rank of Colonel . Biography . Precourt was born on June 29 , 1955 , in Waltham , Massachusetts and considers Hudson , Massachusetts to be his hometown . He graduated from Hudson High School , Hudson , Massachusetts , and received a bachelor of science degree in aeronautical engineering from the United States Air Force Academy in 1977 . In 1988 , he received a master of science degree in engineering management from Golden Gate University . He received a master of arts degree in national security affairs and strategic studies from the United States Naval War College in 1990 . While at the United States Air Force Academy , Precourt also attended the French Air Force Academy in 1976 as part of an exchange program . He is fluent in French and Russian . Precourt retired from NASA in 2004 and is a Vice President at ATK Thiokol in Ogden , Utah . Personal life . He is married to the former Lynne Denise Mungle of St . Charles , Missouri , who works with Coldwell Banker Real Estate , and coordinates many charity and volunteer events . They have three daughters , Michelle , Sarah , and Aimee . Precourt and his wife enjoy golfing , downhill skiing , and flying light aircraft . He flies a Varieze , an experimental aircraft that he built . His daughters have also pursued successful educational careers : Precourt became a grandfather following the births of two grandsons in 2009 and 2010 . Special honors . Military decorations include : NASA awards include : Charles Precourt was inducted into the NASA Astronaut Hall of Fame on May 5 , 2012 in a ceremony that took place the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex . Experience . Precourt graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training at Reese Air Force Base , Texas , in 1978 . Initially he flew as an instructor pilot in the T - 37 , and later as a maintenance test pilot in the T - 37 and T - 38 aircraft . From 1982 through 1984 , he flew an operational tour in the F - 15 Eagle Eagle at Bitburg Air Base in Germany . In 1985 he attended the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in California . Upon graduation , Precourt was assigned as a test pilot at Edwards , where he flew the F - 15E , F - 4 Phantom II , A - 7 Corsair II , and A - 37 Dragonfly aircraft until mid 1989 , when he began studies at the United States Naval War College in Newport , Rhode Island . Upon graduation from the War College , Precourt joined the astronaut program . His flight experience includes over 7 , 500 hours in over 60 types of civil and military aircraft . He holds commercial pilot , multi - engine instrument , glider and certified flight instructor ratings . Precourt retired from the Air Force on March 31 , 2000 . NASA experience . Selected by NASA in January 1990 , Precourt became an astronaut in July 1991 . His other technical assignments to date have included : Manager of ascent , entry , and launch abort issues for the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch ; spacecraft communicator ( CAPCOM ) , providing the voice link from the Mission Control Center during launch and entry for several Space Shuttle missions ; Director of Operations for NASA at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City , Russia , from October 1995 to April 1996 , with responsibility for the coordination and implementation of mission operations activities in the Moscow region for the joint U . S . / Russian Shuttle - Mir Program . From May 1996 to September 1998 , he served as Acting Assistant Director ( Technical ) , Johnson Space Center . From October 1998 through November 2002 , Precourt was Chief of the Astronaut Corps , responsible for the mission preparation activities of all space shuttle and future International Space Station crews and their support personnel . From November 2002 until his 2004 retirement from NASA , Precourt served as the Deputy Manager for the International Space Station , responsible for the day - to - day management of ISS operations , on orbit assembly and the interfaces with NASA contractors and the International Partners . A veteran of four space flights , he has logged over 932 hours in space . He served as a mission specialist on STS - 55 ( April 26 to May 6 , 1993 ) , was the pilot on STS - 71 ( June 27 to July 7 , 1995 ) , and was the spacecraft commander on STS - 84 ( May 15 – 24 , 1997 ) and STS - 91 ( June 2 – 12 , 1998 ) , the final scheduled Shuttle - Mir docking mission , concluding the joint U . S . / Russian Phase I Program . Space flight experience . STS - 55 " Columbia " launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on April 26 , 1993 . Nearly 90 experiments were conducted during this German - sponsored Spacelab D - 2 mission to investigate life sciences , materials sciences , physics , robotics , astronomy and the Earth and its atmosphere . STS - 55 also flew the Shuttle Amateur Radio Experiment ( SAREX ) making contact with students in 14 schools around the world . After 160 orbits of the earth in 240 flight hours , the 10 - day mission concluded with a landing on Runway 22 at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on May 6 , 1993 . STS - 71 ( June 27 to July 7 , 1995 ) was the first Space Shuttle mission to dock with the Russian Space Station Mir , and involved an exchange of crews ( seven - member crew at launch , eight - member crew on return ) . The " Atlantis " Space Shuttle was modified to carry a docking system compatible with the Russian Mir Space Station . It also carried a Spacehab module in the payload bay in which the crew performed various life sciences experiments and data collections . STS - 71 " Atlantis " launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center , Florida . Mission duration was 235 hours , 23 minutes . STS - 84 Atlantis ( May 15 – 24 , 1997 ) carried a seven - member international crew . This was NASA ’ s sixth Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian Space Station Mir . During the 9 - day flight , the crew conducted a number of secondary experiments and transferred nearly 4 tons of supplies and experiment equipment between the Space Shuttle and the Mir station . STS - 84 " Atlantis " launched from and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center , Florida . Mission duration was 221 hours and 20 minutes . STS - 91 " Discovery " ( June 2 – 12 , 1998 ) was the 9th and final Shuttle - Mir docking mission and marked the conclusion of the highly successful joint U . S . / Russian Phase I Program . The crew , including a Russian cosmonaut , performed logistics and hardware resupply of the Mir during four docked days . They also conducted the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer experiment , which involved the first of its kind research of antimatter in space . Mission duration was 235 hours , 54 minutes . References . http : / / www . jsc . nasa . gov / Bios / htmlbios / precourt . html