Kenneth D . Cameron Kenneth Donald Cameron ( born November 29 , 1949 ) is a retired colonel in the United States Marine Corps and former NASA astronaut . Background . Cameron was born on November 29 , 1949 , in Cleveland , Ohio . He graduated from Rocky River High School , Rocky River , Ohio , in 1967 . He went on to attend the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , receiving a Bachelor of Science in aeronautics and astronautics in 1978 , and a Master of Science in aeronautics and astronautics in 1979 . Cameron graduated from U . S . Naval Test Pilot School in 1983 , and completed numerous courses in Russian language and Russian space systems at MIT , the Lyndon B . Johnson Space Center , and at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center , Moscow , Russia . He later earned a Master of Business Administration from Michigan State University in 2002 . Military and flight experience . Cameron was commissioned in the Marine Corps in 1970 at Officer Candidate School at Marine Corps Base Quantico , Virginia . After graduating from the The Basic School and Vietnamese language school , he was assigned to the Republic of Vietnam for a one - year tour of duty as an infantry platoon commander with the 1st Battalion , 5th Marines and later with the Marine Security Guards at the U . S . Embassy in Saigon . Upon his return to the United States , he served as executive officer with India Company , 3rd Battalion , 2nd Marines , at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune , North Carolina . He reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola , Florida , in 1972 for flight training , receiving his Naval Aviator wings in 1973 . He was then assigned to VMA - 223 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma , Arizona , flying A - 4M Skyhawk s . In 1976 , Cameron was reassigned to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , where he participated in the Marine College Degree and Advanced Degree Programs . Upon graduation , he was assigned to flying duty for one year with Marine Aircraft Group 12 at Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni , Japan . He was subsequently assigned to the Pacific Missile Test Center in 1980 , and in 1982 to the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River , Maryland . Following graduation in 1983 , he was assigned as project officer and test pilot in the F / A - 18 Hornet , A - 4 , and OV - 10 Bronco airplanes with the Systems Engineering Test Directorate at the Naval Air Test Center . He has logged over 4 , 000 hours flying time in 48 different types of aircraft . NASA career . Selected by NASA in May 1984 , Cameron became an astronaut in June 1985 . His technical assignments have included work on Tethered Satellite Payload , flight software testing in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory ( SAIL ) , launch support activities at Kennedy Space Center , and spacecraft communicator ( CAPCOM ) in Mission Control for STS - 28 , 29 , 30 , 33 and 34 . Cameron ' s management assignments in NASA include Section Chief for astronaut software testing in SAIL , astronaut launch support activities , and Operations Assistant to the Hubble Repair Mission Director . In 1994 , Cameron served as the first NASA Director of Operations in Star City , Russia , where he worked with the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center staff to set up a support system for astronaut operations and training in Star City , and received Russian training in Soyuz and Mir spacecraft systems , and flight training in Russian L - 39 aircraft . A veteran of three space flights , Cameron has logged over 561 hours in space . He served as pilot on STS - 37 ( April 5 – 11 , 1991 ) , and was the spacecraft commander on STS - 56 ( April 9 – 17 , 1993 ) and STS - 74 ( November 12 – 20 , 1995 ) . Cameron flew his first mission as pilot on STS - 37 . This mission was launched on April 5 , 1991 , and featured the deployment of the Gamma Ray Observatory for the purpose of exploring gamma ray sources throughout the universe . Space Shuttle " Atlantis " landed on April 11 , 1991 . On his second mission , he was spacecraft commander on STS - 56 , carrying ATLAS - 2 . During this nine - day mission , the crew of Space Shuttle " Discovery " conducted atmospheric and solar studies in order to better understand the effect of solar activity on the Earth ’ s climate and environment , and deployed and retrieved the autonomous observatory " Spartan " . STS - 56 launched on April 8 , 1993 , and landed at Kennedy Space Center on April 17 , 1993 . On his third mission , Cameron commanded " Atlantis " on STS - 74 , NASA ’ s second Space Shuttle mission to rendezvous and dock with the Russian space station Mir , and the first mission to use the Shuttle to assemble a module and attach it to a space station . STS - 74 launched on November 12 , 1995 , and landed at Kennedy Space Center on November 20 , 1995 . Cameron left NASA on August 5 , 1996 to join Hughes Training , Inc . , a subsidiary of General Motors Corporation , as Executive Director of Houston Operations . In September 1997 , Cameron transferred to Saab Automobile , AB , in Sweden , as Vehicle Line Executive for the Saab 9 - 3 automobile . He was called " Kalle Comet " by his co workers at Saab . Upon his return to the United States , Cameron worked at the General Motors Technical Center in Warren , Michigan , near Detroit , in positions in World Wide Purchasing , Supplier Technology Acquisition , Research and Development , and Fuel Cell Vehicle Development . Following the loss of the Space Shuttle " Columbia " and her crew , Cameron returned to the space program in October 2003 , taking a founding position as a Principal Engineer in the NASA Engineering & Safety Center , based at the NASA Langley Research Center , in Hampton , Virginia . In June 2005 , Cameron was selected as Deputy Director for Safety of the NESC , and in June 2007 he was relocated to the NESC office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston . Post - NASA . Cameron retired from NASA in December 2008 to join Northrop Grumman Corporation as the Director of Houston Operations for Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems . Cameron currently owns and flies a Cozy MK IV , an experimental airplane of composite fiberglass construction with canard design configuration and pusher propeller .