Stephen S . Oswald Stephen Scot Oswald is a former NASA Astronaut . Personal data . Born 30 June 1951 , in Seattle , Washington , but considers Bellingham , Washington , to be his hometown . He has three children , Monique , Janna , and Scott . Education . Graduated from Bellingham High School , Bellingham , Washington , in 1969 ; received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the United States Naval Academy in 1973 . Organizations / awards . Oswald is an Eagle Scout and recipient of the Distinguished Eagle Scout Award from the Boy Scouts of America . Member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots , the Association of Space Explorers , the Naval Reserve Association , and the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics . Recipient of the Legion of Merit , the Distinguished Flying Cross , the Meritorious Service Medal , the Navy Commendation Medal ( 2 ) , the NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal , the NASA Exceptional Service Medal ( 2 ) , the NASA Space Flight Medal ( 3 ) , and various service awards . U . S . Navy Experience . Oswald graduated from the U . S . Naval Academy in 1973 , and was designated a naval aviator in September 1974 . Following training in the A - 7 Corsair II aircraft , he flew aboard the from 1975 through 1977 . In 1978 , Oswald attended the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River , Maryland . Upon graduation , he remained at the Naval Air Test Center conducting flying qualities , performance , and propulsion flight tests on the A - 7 and F / A - 18 Hornet aircraft through 1981 . Following tours as an F / A - 18 flight instructor and as a catapult officer aboard the , Oswald resigned from active Navy duty and joined Westinghouse Electric Corporation as a civilian test pilot . As a reservist , Rear Adm . Oswald flew the RF - 8 and the A - 7 until 1988 when he transferred to the fledgling Naval Reserve space community . His assignments included three command tours , the last of which was at the Navy Space Systems Division in the Pentagon as Director , Naval Space Reserve Program . In 2000 and 2001 , he served on active duty as Deputy Commander , Joint Task Force – Computer Network Operations based in the Washington , D . C . He was assigned as the Reserve Deputy to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Warfare Requirements and Programs ( OPNAV N6 / 7 ) in the Pentagon . He has logged 7 , 000 + flight hours in over 40 different aircraft . NASA experience . Oswald joined NASA in November 1984 as an aerospace engineer and instructor pilot and was selected as an astronaut candidate in June 1985 . His technical assignments within the Astronaut Office have included : flight crew representative to Kennedy Space Center ; flight software testing with the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory ; crew representative to the Marshall Space Flight Center on solid rocket booster redesign ; and spacecraft communicator ( CAPCOM ) in the Mission Control Center during Space Shuttle missions . He was also the Chief of the Operations Development Branch within the Astronaut Office and served as Assistant Director of Engineering at Johnson Space Center . Oswald has piloted two missions aboard the : STS - 42 , the International Microgravity Laboratory - 1 mission , flown in January 1992 , and STS - 56 , the second Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science ( ATLAS - 2 ) mission , flown in April 1993 . Oswald commanded STS - 67 , the second flight of the Astro observatory ( Astro II ) , which flew on the in March , 1995 . This mission established a mission duration record for Space Shuttle at 17 days . With the completion of his third space flight , Oswald has logged over 33 days in space . After STS - 67 , Oswald was assigned to NASA Headquarters in Washington , DC as Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Operations . In this capacity , he was responsible for Space Shuttle , Expendable launch vehicle s , and Space Communications for the Agency . After nearly two and a half years in Washington , Oswald returned to the Astronaut Office in July 1998 . Oswald retired from NASA in January 2000 .