Pierre J. Thuot

Pierre Thuot
Thout in July 2010
Born	Pierre Joseph Thuot (1955-05-19)May 19, 1955 Groton, Connecticut,U.S.
Education	United States Naval Academy(BS) University of Southern California(MS)
Space career
NASA astronaut
Rank	Captain,USN
Time in space	27d 6h 51m
Selection	NASA Group 11 (1985)
Missions	STS-36 STS-49 STS-62
Mission insignia

Pierre Joseph Thuot(/ˈθuːət/;born May 19, 1955) is a retiredUnited States NavycaptainandNASAastronaut.He went into space three times, spending over 650 hours in space, including over 15 hours in threespace walks.He is a former U.S. record holder for time spent on one spacewalk, and participated in the first three-person spacewalk.

Early life and education

Born on May 19, 1955, inGroton, Connecticut,Thuot considersFairfax, VirginiaandNew Bedford, Massachusettsto be his hometowns. Thuot graduated fromFairfax High School,Fairfax, Virginia, in 1973.

In 1967, he received aBachelor of Sciencedegree inphysicsfrom theUnited States Naval Academy.In 1985, he received aMaster of Sciencedegree insystems managementfrom theUniversity of Southern California.He attendedHarvard Business School's six-week Advanced Management Program in 2004.

Career

Flight experience

Thuot graduated 30th in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977 and commencedNaval Flight Officertraining in July 1977. He received hiswingsin August 1978 and then reported to Fighter Squadron 101 (VF-101) atNaval Air Station Oceana,Virginia, for initialF-14 Tomcattraining 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 theaircraft carriersUSSJohn F. KennedyandUSSIndependence.While assigned to VF-14, he attended theNavy Fighter Weapons School(TOPGUN). He was then selected to attend theU.S. Naval Test Pilot Schoolin May 1982. Upon graduation in June 1983, he worked as a project test flight officer at theNaval Air Test Centerflying the F-14A Tomcat,A-6E Intruderand theF-4J Phantom IIuntil 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

TheSTS-49three-personEVAin 2000. Left to right:Richard Hieb,Thomas Akers,and Thuot.

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 ofSpace Shuttlepayloads, crew equipment and crew procedures. He performed Space Shuttle flight software verification in theShuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory(SAIL) and served as aCAPCOMin 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-36in 1990,STS-49in 1992 andSTS-62in 1994, Thuot has logged over 654 hours in space, including 17.7 hours on threespace walks.Thuot was the first member ofNASA Astronaut Group 11to fly a shuttle mission.

On his first flight, Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew ofSTS-36which was launched from theKennedy Space Center,Florida,on February 28, 1990, aboard theSpace ShuttleAtlantis.This mission carriedDepartment of Defensepayloads and a number of secondary payloads. Following 72 orbits of the Earth in 106 hours, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing atEdwards Air Force Base,California,on March 4, 1990, after traveling 1.87 million miles.

Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew ofSTS-49,the maiden voyage of theSpace ShuttleEndeavour,which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1992. During that mission, Thuot, along with astronautRichard Hieb,performed three spacewalks which resulted in the capture and repair of the strandedIntelsat VIF3 communications satellite. The third spacewalk, which also included astronautThomas Akers,was the first-ever three-person spacewalk. This 8 hour and 29 minute spacewalk, the longest in history, broke a twenty-year-old record that was held by theApollo 17astronauts. 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 aboardSpace ShuttleColumbiaonSTS-62,a microgravity science and technology demonstration mission that 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 105 nautical miles (194 km), 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 spacewalks.

Thuot left NASA in June 1995 and returned to active service with theUnited States Navy.

Post-Navy career

Thuot retired from the U.S. Navy in 1998 and took a job withOrbital Sciences Corporationas a vice president in theDulles, Virginia-based firm's Space Systems Group. He is currently a Senior Systems Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory.

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, theAssociation of Space Explorers,theAmerican Astronautical Society(AAS) and an Associate Fellow of theAmerican Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics(AIAA).

Honors

He has been awarded threeDefense Superior Service Medals,theLegion of Merit,theNational Intelligence Medal of Achievement,theNational Defense Service Medal,twoNavy Meritorious Unit Commendations,twoNavy Battle Efficiency Awards,theSea Service Deployment Ribbon,the AAS Flight Achievement Award andVictor A. Prather Awardfor 1993, threeNASA Space Flight Medals,twoNASA Exceptional Service Medals,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.

Personal life

Thuot is married to the former Cheryl Ann Mattingly ofLeonardtown, Maryland,and they have two children. Thuot enjoys boating, golf, running, music, flying and family activities.