Kenneth Cockrell
| Kenneth Dale Cockrell | |
|---|---|
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| NASA Astronaut | |
| Nationality | American |
| Status | Retired |
| Born |
April 9, 1950 Austin, Texas, U.S. |
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Other occupation
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Test Pilot |
| Rank | Captain, United States Navy |
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Time in space
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64d 12h 24m |
| Selection | 1990 NASA Group |
| Missions | STS-56, STS-69, STS-80, STS-98, STS-111 |
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Mission insignia
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Kenneth Dale "Taco" Cockrell (born April 9, 1950) is an American astronaut and a veteran of five space shuttle missions.
Cockrell was born in Austin, Texas to Buford Dale Cockrell and Jewell Moorman. He graduated from Rockdale High School in nearby Rockdale, Texas in 1968. He earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin in 1972 and received his commission in the United States Navy that same year. He also earned a master's in aeronautical systems from the University of West Florida in 1974. He was trained as a pilot and was stationed from 1975 to 1978 aboard the aircraft USS Midway. Cockrell then became a test pilot for several years before serving two tours of duty aboard USS Constellation. In 1987, Cockrell resigned from the Navy and joined the Aircraft Operations Division of Johnson Space Center as a research pilot.
Selected by NASA in January 1990, Cockrell became an astronaut in July 1991. His technical assignments to date include: duties in the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch, working on landing, rollout, tires and brakes issues; CAPCOM in Mission Control for ascent and entry; Astronaut Office representative for Flight Data File, the numerous books of procedures carried aboard Shuttle flights. He also served as Assistant to the Chief of the Astronaut Office for Shuttle operations and hardware, Chief of the Astronaut Office Operations Development Branch, and Chief of the Astronaut Office. He served one year as Director of Operations, Russia, in Star City Russia. He served as the liaison between the Astronaut Office and the training organization at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City. Cockrell is currently the Assistant Director, Flight Crew Operations, for aircraft operations. In addition, he serves as an instructor pilot in the T-38 airplane.
A veteran of five space flights, Cockrell has logged over 1,560 hours in space. He served as a mission specialist on STS-56 (April 8–17, 1993), was the pilot on STS-69 (September 7–18, 1995), and was the mission commander on STS-80 (November 19 to December 7, 1996, STS-98 (February 7–20, 2001), and STS-111 (June 5–19, 2002).
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