Frederick W . Sturckow Frederick Wilford " Rick " Sturckow ( born August 11 , 1961 ) is an Engineer , United States Marine Corps officer and a NASA astronaut . Sturckow is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions . He flew on STS - 88 and STS - 105 as a pilot and STS - 117 and STS - 128 as a commander . All four missions docked with the International Space Station , making Sturckow one of two people to visit the station four times . Sturckow later was assigned to the Johnson Space Center as a CAPCOM . He left NASA in May 2013 to become a pilot for Virgin Galactic . Personal . Sturckow was born La Mesa , California , but considers Lakeside , California , to be his hometown . He is married to the former Michele A . Street of Great Mills , Maryland . He enjoys flying and physical training . His father , Karl H . Sturckow , resides in Lakeside and his mother , Janette R . Sturckow , resides in La Mesa . He was a member of the Marine Corps Association ( MCA ) and a former member of Society of Experimental Test Pilots ( SETP ) . Sturckow has the nickname " CJ " , which stands for " Caustic Junior " . It was given to him when he was a young Marine , because he resembled a squadron commander who was appropriately called “ Caustic ” . Education . Sturckow graduated from Grossmont High School , La Mesa , California , in 1978 . He received a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1984 . Awards and honors . Defense Superior Service Medal , Single Mission Air Medal with Combat “ V ” , Strike / Flight Air Medals ( 4 ) , Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal , Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal , NASA Space Flight Medal s ( 4 ) . Military career . Sturckow was commissioned into the U . S . Marine Corps in December 1984 . An honor graduate of The Basic School , he earned his aviator wings in April 1987 . Following initial F / A - 18 training at VFA - 125 , he reported to VMFA - 333 , MCAS Beaufort , South Carolina . While assigned to VMFA - 333 he made an overseas deployment to Japan , South Korea , and the Philippines and was then selected to attend the Navy Fighter Weapons School ( TOPGUN ) in March 1990 . In August 1990 , he deployed to Sheik Isa Air Base , Bahrain for a period of eight months . Sturckow flew a total of forty - one combat missions during Operation Desert Storm . In January 1992 he attended the U . S . Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB , California . In 1993 he reported to the Naval Air Warfare Center , Aircraft Division , NAS Patuxent River , Maryland , for duty as the F / A - 18 E / F Project Pilot . Sturckow also flew a wide variety of projects and classified programs as an F / A - 18 test pilot . He has logged over 4 , 000 flight hours and has flown over 50 different aircraft . NASA career . Selected by NASA in December 1994 , Sturckow reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 . He completed a year of training and evaluation and was assigned to work technical issues for the Vehicle Systems and Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office . He currently serves as Deputy for the Shuttle Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office , and also serves as Lead for Kennedy Space Center Operations Support . Before STS - 128 Sturckow was a veteran of three space flight s and has logged over 904 hours in space . He served as pilot on STS - 88 in 1998 ( the first International Space Station assembly mission ) , and most recently on STS - 105 in 2001 . Sturckow was the commander of the STS - 117 mission . Sturckow was the commander of the STS - 128 mission launched on August 28 , 2009 . In February 2010 , Sturckow was the launch CAPCOM for STS - 130 and in April 2010 for STS - 131 . On January 13 , 2011 , NASA named Sturckow as the backup commander for STS - 134 . The appointment allowed the commander , Mark Kelly ( who subsequently flew the mission ) , to continue to support his wife , U . S . Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords , while she recovered from an attempted assassination . After NASA . On May 8 , 2013 , Virgin Galactic announced that they have hired Sturckow for flight testing of the SpaceShipTwo spacecraft and the White Knight Two aircraft , as the company prepares for subsequent commercial operations .