Pierre J . Thuot Pierre Joseph Thuot ( pronounced THOO - it ) is a retired United States Navy Captain and NASA astronaut . He went into space three times , spending over 650 hours in space , including over 15 hours in three space walks . He is a former U . S . record holder for time spent on one space walk , and participated in the first three - person space walk . Personal . Born on May 19 , 1955 , in Groton , Connecticut , Thuot considers Fairfax , Virginia and New Bedford , Massachusetts to be his hometowns . He is married to the former Cheryl Ann Mattingly of Leonardtown , Maryland , and they have two children . Thuot enjoys boating , golf , running , music , flying and family activities . Education . Thuot graduated from Fairfax High School , Fairfax , Virginia , in 1973 . He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the United States Naval Academy in 1977 , and a Master of Science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1985 . He also graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2004 . Professional membership . Thuot is a member of the U . S . Naval Academy Alumni Association , the Association of Naval Aviation , the University of Southern California Alumni Association , the Association of Space Explorers , the American Astronautical Society ( AAS ) and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics ( AIAA ) . Honors . He has been awarded three Defense Superior Service Medal s , the Legion of Merit , the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement , the National Defense Service Medal , two Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation s , two Navy Battle Efficiency Awards , the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon , the AAS Flight Achievement Award and Victor A . Prather Award for 1993 , three NASA Space Flight Medal s , two NASA Exceptional Service Medal s , and seven NASA Group Achievement Awards . He held the U . S . and absolute world records for total time spent on space walks : 8 hours and 29 minutes from 1992 until 2001 . Flight experience . Thuot graduated 30th in his class from the U . S . Naval Academy in 1977 and commenced Naval Flight Officer training in July 1977 . He received his wings in August 1978 and then reported to Fighter Squadron 101 ( VF - 101 ) at Naval Air Station Oceana , Virginia , for initial F - 14 Tomcat training as a Radar Intercept Officer ( RIO ) . He was then assigned to Fighter Squadron 14 ( VF - 14 ) and deployed to the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas aboard the and . While assigned to VF - 14 , he attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School ( TOPGUN ) . He was then selected to attend the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School in May 1982 . Upon graduation in June 1983 , he worked as a project test flight officer at the Naval Air Test Center flying the F - 14A Tomcat , A - 6E Intruder and the F - 4J Phantom II until June 1984 when he returned to the U . S . Naval Test Pilot School as a flight instructor . He has over 3 , 500 flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft , and has over 270 carrier landings . NASA career . Selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1985 , Thuot has served in a variety of technical assignments . As the remote manipulator system ( robot arm ) , crew equipment , and extravehicular activity ( EVA ) representative for the Astronaut Office , he participated in the design , development and evaluation of Space Shuttle payloads , crew equipment and crew procedures . He performed Space Shuttle flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory ( SAIL ) and served as a CAPCOM in the Mission Control Center , responsible for communications with the crew for numerous Space Shuttle missions . He served as the lead astronaut for Space Station integrated assembly and maintenance operations within the Astronaut Office . He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Mission Support Branch , as well as supervising Astronaut Candidate training for the class of 1995 . A veteran of three space flights , STS - 36 in 1990 , STS - 49 in 1992 and STS - 62 in 1994 , Thuot has logged over 654 hours in space , including 17 . 7 hours on three space walks . On his first flight , Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS - 36 which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center , Florida , on February 28 , 1990 , aboard the Space Shuttle " Atlantis " . This mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads . Following 72 orbits of the Earth in 106 hours , the STS - 36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base , California , on March 4 , 1990 , after traveling 1 . 87 million miles . Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS - 49 , the maiden voyage of the , which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 7 , 1992 . During that mission , Thuot , along with astronaut Richard Hieb , performed three space walks which resulted in the capture and repair of the stranded Intelsat VI F3 communications satellite . The third space walk , which also included astronaut Thomas Akers , was the first ever three - person space walk . This 8 hour and 29 minute space walk , the longest in history , broke a twenty year old record that was held by the Apollo 17 astronauts . The mission concluded on May 16 , 1992 , with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base after orbiting the Earth 141 times in 213 hours and traveling 3 . 7 million miles . On March 4 , 1994 , Thuot was launched aboard on STS - 62 , a microgravity science and technology demonstration mission which carried the United States Microgravity Payload ( USMP - 2 ) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology ( OAST - 2 ) payloads . More than sixty experiments or investigations were conducted in scientific and engineering disciplines including materials science , human physiology , biotechnology , protein crystal growth , robotics , structural dynamics , atmospheric ozone monitoring and spacecraft glow . During the spacecraft glow investigation , " Columbia " s orbital altitude was lowered to , the lowest ever flown by a Space Shuttle . STS - 62 , one of the longest Space Shuttle missions , concluded on March 18 , 1994 , with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center after orbiting the Earth 224 times in 13 days , 23 hours , and 16 minutes and traveling 5 . 8 million miles . With the completion of his third mission , Thuot has logged over 654 hours in space , including over 17 . 7 hours on three space walks . Thuot left NASA in June 1995 , and returned to active service with the Navy . Post - Navy career . Thuot retired from the U . S . Navy in 1998 and took a job with Orbital Sciences Corporation as a vice president in the Dulles , Virginia - based firm ' s Space Systems Group . Following that position , he served as the Chief Operating Officer of CMX Technologies in Reston , Virginia , and is currently a manager at Whitney , Bradley and Brown .