James van Hoften James Dougal Adrianus " Ox " van Hoften is a former NASA Astronaut . Personal data . Van Hoften was born June 11 , 1944 , in Fresno , California . He was active in the Boy Scouts of America where he achieved its second highest rank , Life Scout . He considers Burlingame , California , to be his hometown . James is married with three children . He enjoys skiing , playing handball and racquetball , and jogging . Education . Graduated from Mills High School , Millbrae , California , in 1962 ; received a bachelor of science degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California , Berkeley , in 1966 ; and a master of science degree in Hydraulic engineering and a Doctorate of Philosophy in Hydraulic Engineering from Colorado State University in 1968 and 1976 , respectively . Organizations . Member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ( AIAA ) , Sigma Xi , Chi Epsilon , and Pi Kappa Alpha . Experience . From 1969 to 1974 , Van Hoften was a pilot in the United States Navy . He received flight training at Pensacola , Florida , and completed jet pilot training at Beeville , Texas , in November 1970 . He was then assigned to the Naval Air Station , Miramar , California , to fly F - 4 Phantoms , and subsequently to VF - 121 Replacement Air Group . As a pilot with VF - 154 assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Ranger in 1972 , Van Hoften participated in two cruises to Southeast Asia where he flew approximately 60 combat missions . He resumed his academic studies in 1974 and completed a dissertation on the interaction of waves and turbulent channel flow for his doctorate . In September 1976 , he accepted an assistant professorship of civil engineering at the University of Houston , and until his selection as an astronaut candidate , taught fluid mechanics and conducted research on biomedical fluid flows concerning flows in artificial internal organs and valves . Dr . van Hoften has published a number of papers on turbulence , waves , and cardiovascular flows . From 1977 until 1980 he flew F - 4N ' s with Naval Reserve Fighter Squadron 201 at NAS Dallas and then three years as a member of the Texas Air National Guard with the 147th Fighter Interceptor Group at Ellington Field as a pilot in the F - 4C . He has logged 3 , 300 hours flying time , the majority in jet aircraft . NASA experience . Dr . van Hoften was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978 . He completed a 1 - year training and evaluation period in August 1979 . From 1979 through the first flight , STS - 1 , Van Hoften supported the Space Shuttle entry and on - orbit guidance , navigation and flight control testing at the Flight Systems Laboratory at Downey , California . Subsequently he was lead of the Astronaut Support Team at Kennedy Space Center , Florida , responsible for the Space Shuttle turn - around testing and flight preparations . He served as a mission specialist on STS - 41C in 1984 , and STS - 51I in 1985 . Dr . Van Hoften has logged a total 338 hours in space , including 22 hours of EVA flight time . Space flight experience . STS - 41C Challenger ( April 6 – 13 , 1984 ) was launched from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida , and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base , California . During the 7 - day mission the crew successfully deployed the Long Duration Exposure Facility ( LDEF ) ; retrieved the ailing Solar Maximum Satellite , repaired it on board the orbiting Challenger and replaced it in orbit , using the robot arm called the Remote Manipulator System ( RMS ) . The mission also included flight testing of Manned Maneuvering Unit s ( MMU ' s ) in two extravehicular activities ( EVA ' s ) ; operation of the Cinema 360 and IMAX Camera Systems , as well as a Bee Hive Honeycomb Structures student experiment . The mission was accomplished in 107 Earth orbits in 167 hours , 40 minutes , 7 seconds . STS - 51I Discovery ( August 27 to September 3 , 1985 ) launched from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida , and returned to land at Edwards Air Force Base , California . During this mission the crew successfully deployed three communications satellites , the Navy ' s Syncom IV - 4 , Australian AUSSAT , and American Satellite Company ' s ASC - 1 . The crew also performed the successful salvage of the ailing Navy Syncom IV - 3 satellite . These tasks included two Extravehicular Activities ( EVA ' s ) in which Dr . van Hoften attached to the Remote Manipulator System ( RMS ) performed the first manual grapple and manual deployment of a satellite in orbit . The mission also included the Physical Vapor Transport of Organic Solids ( PVTOS ) , the second material processing experiment to be flown aboard a Shuttle for 3M . The mission was accomplished in 112 orbits of the Earth in 171 hours , 17 minutes , 42 seconds . Post - NASA Career . Dr . van Hoften is a former senior vice president and partner of the Bechtel Corporation . He was managing director of the global airport design and construction business and was responsible for airport developments in the Middle East , Japan , and North and South America . In the early 1990s , he was the programme manager of the $ 23 billion Hong Kong Airport Core Programme including the new Hong Kong Airport . He later acted as Director of Projects for the UK National Air Traffic Services . In 2009 he was appointed a non - executive director of Gatwick Airport