Terrence W . Wilcutt Terrence Wade Wilcutt ( born 31 October 1949 ) is a United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut . He is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions . Wilcutt is currently the Deputy Director , Safety and Mission Assurance , Johnson Space Center . Personal . Raised in Louisville , Kentucky , Wilcutt earned a degree in mathematics in 1974 from Western Kentucky University where he was a member of the Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity . He then taught high school math for two years before entering the United States Marine Corps . He was commissioned in 1976 and earned his aviator wings in 1978 . Following initial F - 4 Phantom training with squadron VMFAT - 101 , he reported to VMFA - 235 at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay , Hawaii . While assigned to VMFA - 235 , Wilcutt attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School ( " TOPGUN " ) , and made two overseas deployments to Japan , Korea , and the Philippines . In 1983 he was selected for F / A - 18 conversion training , and served as an F / A - 18 Fighter Weapons and Air Combat Maneuvering Instructor with VFA - 125 , Naval Air Station Lemoore , California . In 1986 , Wilcutt was selected to attend the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School . Following graduation , he was assigned as a test pilot / project officer for Strike Aircraft Test Directorate ( SATD ) at the Naval Air Test Center , NAS Patuxent River , Maryland . While assigned to SATD , Wilcutt flew the F / A - 18 Hornet , the A - 7 Corsair II , the F - 4 Phantom , and various other aircraft while serving in a wide variety of projects and classified programs . He has over 6 , 600 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft . NASA career . Wilcutt was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1990 ; he piloted missions STS - 68 ( 1994 ) and STS - 79 ( 1996 ) . Wilcutt commanded mission STS - 89 ( 1998 ) to the Mir space station and STS - 106 ( 2000 ) to the International Space Station . Spaceflight experience . STS - 68 " Endeavour " ( September 30 to October 11 , 1994 ) was part of NASA ’ s Mission to Planet Earth . STS - 68 , Space Radar Lab - 2 ( SRL - 2 ) , was the second flight of three advanced radars called SIR - C / X - SAR ( Spaceborne Imaging Radar - C / X - Band Synthetic Aperture Radar ) , and a carbon - monoxide pollution sensor , MAPS ( Measurement of Air Pollution from Satellites ) . SIR - C / X - SAR and MAPS operated together in Endeavour ’ s cargo bay to study Earth ’ s surface and atmosphere , creating radar images of Earth ’ s surface environment and mapping global production and transport of carbon monoxide pollution . Real - time crew observations of environmental conditions , along with over 14 , 000 photographs , aided the science team in interpreting the SRL data . The SRL - 2 mission was a highly successful test of technology intended for long - term environmental and geological monitoring of planet Earth . STS - 68 launched from Kennedy Space Center , Florida , and landed at Edwards Air Force Base , California . Mission duration was 11 days , 5 hours , 46 minutes , traveling 4 . 7 million miles in 183 orbits of the Earth . STS - 79 " Atlantis " ( September 16 – 26 , 1996 ) , the fourth in the joint American - Russian Shuttle - Mir series of missions , launched from and returned to land at Kennedy Space Center , Florida . STS - 79 rendezvoused with the Russia n Mir space station and ferried supplies , personnel , and scientific equipment to this base 240 miles above the Earth . The crew transferred over 3 . 5 tons of supplies to and from the Mir and exchanged U . S . astronauts on Mir for the first time - leaving John Blaha and bringing Shannon Lucid home after her record six months stay aboard Mir . Mission duration was 10 days , 3 hours , 18 minutes , traveling 3 . 9 million miles in 159 orbits of the Earth . STS - 89 " Endeavour " ( January 22 – 31 , 1998 ) , was the eighth Shuttle - Mir docking mission during which the crew transferred more than 9 , 000 pounds of scientific equipment , logistical hardware and water from Space Shuttle " Endeavour " to Mir . In the fifth and last exchange of a U . S . astronaut , STS - 89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf . Mission duration was 8 days , 19 hours and 47 seconds , traveling 3 . 6 million miles in 138 orbits of the Earth . STS - 106 " Atlantis " ( September 8 – 20 , 2000 ) was a 12 - day mission during which the crew successfully prepared the International Space Station for the arrival of the first permanent crew . The five astronauts and two cosmonauts delivered more than 6 , 600 pounds of supplies and installed batteries , power converters , life support , and exercise equipment on the Space Station . Two crew members performed a space walk in order to connect power , data and communications cables to the newly arrived Zvezda Service Module and the Space Station . STS - 106 orbited the Earth 185 times , and covered 4 . 9 million miles in 11 days , 19 hours , and 10 minutes .