Re: Shuttle - how many flights as pilot before becoming commander?


Neon Knight wrote:
> So, in general, it seems that before becoming shuttle commander, an
> astronaut must first fly as pilot. Is there a "minimum" amount of
> flights one must make as pilot before being promoted to commander?

There's no absolute rule, it's more a function of how many qualified
commanders are available, the flight rate, and how well a pilot gets
along with his bosses (chief astronaut, head flight crew operations,
JSC center director, etc.)

Joe Engle set the unique record of the only rookie to command a shuttle
mission (STS-2). Of course Engle was already an Air Force astronaut
with several X-15 pilots and plenty of test pilot experience. In theory
a rookie could be trained as a commander, but there's plenty of
qualified pilots who have the actual experience.

In the mid 1980s most of the 1978 pilots became commanders on their
second flights although there were some exceptions who flew twice as
pilot before becoming commanders, and ones who flew as an MS2 on their
first flight, PLT on second, and CDR on the third.

In the late 1980s a couple of 1984 pilots were assigned to fly as PLTs
for their second missions but later the decision was made to give them
commands of other missions and the missions they were already on had
slight changes in their crews to adjust. (ISTR that John Casper was
originally the PLT for STS-50 with Ken Bowersox as the MS2. Casper was
'promoted' to command STS-54 and Bowersox became the PLT for STS-50).

In a couple of cases PLTs have flown three times as PLT before becoming
a CDR, however there are also cases where PLTs have flown once or twice
without ever getting to command a mission.

When Rick Husband was assigned to command STS-107 it was the first time
a PLT went straight to CDR on his second flight since 1993 (Frank
Culbertson on STS-51). At that point there was a shortage of CDRs (the
1992 class only had four PLTs, several astronauts had retired or moved
to management decisions. As a consequence folks like Curt Brown, Jim
Wetherbee, and Kent Rominger were lucky enough to turnaround rapidly
and fly multiple commands over a couple of years). STS-107 was the
least dynamic mission (no spacewalks, no robot arm ops, no docking with
ISS or Hubble) so it made sense to give it to the PLT with the least
spaceflight experience in the office.

Now it seems like NASA wants to get several PLTs promoted to CDR
quickly to build up for the future before they become too old, so
several 1996 PLTs are getting promoted to CDR on their second flights.


Alex Harris

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