Frederick W. Sturckow

Rick Sturckow
Sturckow in 1995
Born	Frederick Wilford Sturckow (1961-08-11)August 11, 1961 La Mesa, California,U.S.
Other names	CJ
Education	California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo(BS) Florida Institute of Technology(MS)
Space career
NASA astronaut
Rank	Colonel,USMC
Time in space	51d 10h 20m
Selection	NASA Group 15 (1994)
Missions	STS-88 STS-105 STS-117 STS-128 VP-03 Unity21 Unity25 Galactic 02 Galactic 04 Galactic 06
Mission insignia

Frederick Wilford "Rick" Sturckow(born August 11, 1961) is anengineer,retiredUnited States Marine Corpsofficer, formerNASAastronaut,andcommercialspacecraft pilot. Sturckow is a veteran of fourSpace Shuttlemissions. He flew as a pilot onSTS-88andSTS-105and as a commander onSTS-117andSTS-128.All four missions docked with theInternational Space Station,making Sturckow one of three American astronauts to visit the station four times. Sturckow later was assigned to theJohnson Space Centeras aCAPCOM.He left NASA in 2013 to become a pilot forVirgin Galactic.

Personal

Sturckow was bornLa Mesa, California,but considersLakeside, California,to be his hometown. He is married to the former Michele A. Street ofGreat Mills, Maryland.He enjoys flying andphysical training.His father, Karl H. Sturckow, resides in Whittier, CA and his mother, Janette R. Sturckow, resides in La Mesa. He was a member of theMarine Corps Association(MCA) and a former member ofSociety 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 fromGrossmont High School,La Mesa, California, in 1978. He received aBachelor of Sciencedegree inmechanical engineeringfromCalifornia Polytechnic State Universityin 1984, and aMaster of Sciencedegree inmechanical engineeringfromFlorida Institute of Technologyin 2000.

Awards and honors

Defense Superior Service Medal,Single MissionAir Medalwith Combat "V", Strike/Flight Air Medals (4),Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal,Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal,NASA Space Flight Medals(4).

Military career

View of Astronaut Rick Sturckow, STS-117 Commander, giving the thumbs up while wearing a Marine Corps hat

Sturckow was commissioned into the U.S. Marine Corps in December 1984. An honor graduate ofThe Basic School,he earned hisaviator wingsin April 1987. Following initialF/A-18training atVFA-125,he reported toVMFA-333,MCAS Beaufort,South Carolina.While assigned to VMFA-333 he made an overseas deployment to Japan,South Korea,and thePhilippinesand was then selected to attend theNavy Fighter Weapons School(TOPGUN) in March 1990. In August 1990, he deployed toSheik Isa Air Base,Bahrainfor a period of eight months. Sturckow flew a total of forty-one combat missions duringOperation Desert Storm.In January 1992 he attended theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot SchoolatEdwards AFB,California.In 1993 he reported to theNaval 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.

Sturckow retired from the Marine Corps as a colonel, in September, 2009, after 25 years of active duty service. He has logged over 6,500 flight hours in more than 60 different aircraft.

NASA career

STS-88 Pilot Rick Sturckow poses for a photo on the aft flight deck with the International Space Station (ISS) stack reflected in the overhead windows.

Selected by NASA in December 1994, Sturckow reported to theJohnson Space Centerin 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 served as pilot onSTS-88in 1998 (the first International Space Station assembly mission), and onSTS-105in 2001. Sturckow was the commander of theSTS-117mission in 2007, and of theSTS-128mission launched on August 28, 2009.Sturckow was also the launch CAPCOM forSTS-130in February 2010,and forSTS-131in April 2010.On January 13, 2011, NASA named Sturckow as the backup commander forSTS-134.The appointment allowed the commander,Mark Kelly(who subsequently flew the mission), to continue to support his wife, CongresswomanGabby Giffords,while she recovered from anattempted assassination.

Sturckow left NASA in March 2013. During his 18-year tenure, he served in multiple technical and leadership roles supportingJohnson Space Center's Astronaut Office including chief of the Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) Branch and chief of the International Space Station Branch.

Post-NASA career

On May 8, 2013,Virgin Galacticannouncedthey had hired Sturckow for flight testing of theSpaceShipTwospacecraft and theWhite Knight Twoaircraft, as the company prepares for subsequent commercial operations. On December 13, 2018, he reached outer space with theVSSUnityaccording to America's definition of thespace border.

References

General references

This article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.

• "FREDERICK W." RICK "STURCKOW (COLONEL, USMC, RET.), NASA ASTRONAUT (FORMER)"(PDF).NASA. April 2013.RetrievedJune 18,2021.
• Spacefacts biography of Frederick W. Sturckow