Douglas H. Wheelock

Early life and education

Born in Binghamton, New York, to Olin and Margaret Wheelock, Douglas Wheelock has pointed to the Apollo 11 Moon landing in July 1969 as a major turning point that inspired his path to becoming an astronaut. He graduated from Windsor Central High School in 1978 and then attended the United States Military Academy at West Point. Later, in 1992, he earned a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Military career

After four years as a cadet at West Point, Wheelock graduated in 1983 with a Bachelor of Science in applied science and engineering and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army's Infantry Branch. He entered flight school the next year and, by September 1984, graduated at the top of his class, becoming an army aviator. His Pacific assignments included serving as a combat aviation section leader, platoon leader, company executive officer, battalion operations officer, and commander of an air cavalry troop in the 9th Cavalry.

He later worked as an advanced weapons research and development engineer at the Aviation Directorate of Combat Developments. Selected for Class 104 at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School, he became an experimental test pilot at the Army Aviation Technical Test Center, focusing on tactical reconnaissance and surveillance systems in the OH-58D, UH-60, RU-21, and C-23 aircraft. He also served as division chief for fixed-wing testing of airborne signal and imagery intelligence systems for the National Program Office for Intelligence and Electronic Warfare.

While on active duty, he earned a Master of Science in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech in 1992. In August 1996, he was assigned to the Johnson Space Center as a Space Shuttle integration test engineer, providing engineering liaison for launch and landing operations. He became the vehicle integration test team lead for the joint Shuttle-Mir mission STS-86 and lead engineer for ISS hardware fit checks. His military schooling includes the Army Airborne and Air Assault Courses, Infantry and Aviation Officer Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Material Acquisition Management Course, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.

In July 2011, he left for a tour of duty in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. A dual-rated master army aviator astronaut, he has logged over 2,500 flight hours in 43 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.

NASA career

Wheelock began NASA astronaut candidate training in August 1998. After two years of training, he joined the Astronaut Office ISS Operations Branch as a Russian Liaison, testing and integrating Russian hardware and software for the ISS. He worked closely with the Energia Aerospace Company in Moscow to develop dual-language procedures for ISS crews and led joint U.S./Russian teams to the Baikonur Cosmodrome for the first four uncrewed ISS resupply capsules.

In 2001, he became the crew support astronaut for ISS Expedition 2 and later for ISS Expedition 4. In August 2002, he was assigned as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in Mission Control, eventually serving as lead CAPCOM for ISS Expedition 8. In July 2004, he lived and worked underwater for ten days as an aquanaut during the NEEMO 6 mission. He was assigned as NASA's Director of Operations – Russia in January 2005 and again in 2016, based at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, where he supported training, logistics, and administrative needs for NASA astronauts and acted as liaison with the Russian Space Agency.

After his first spaceflight, he was assigned as backup to T.J. Creamer for the Soyuz TMA-17/Expedition 22/Expedition 23 mission.

Personal life

Windsor, New York is the hometown of Douglas H. Wheelock. His parents, Olin and Margaret Wheelock, live in upstate New York. In 1989, the U.S. Jaycees named him one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men of America." A year later, the Veterans of Foreign Wars recognized him as an "Outstanding Spokesman for Freedom." Wheelock holds memberships in the Society of Experimental Test Pilots, the Society of American Military Engineers, the Association of the United States Army, and the Army Aviation Association of America.

Spaceflight experience

Wheelock's first spaceflight launched on October 23, 2007, aboard Space Shuttle Discovery for the STS-120 mission. As Mission Specialist 3, he helped deliver the Node 2 module to the International Space Station. He performed three spacewalks with Scott Parazynski to outfit Node 2, store an S-band antenna, work on the Integrated Truss Structure, and handle External Stowage Platform 2. When a solar array on the P6 truss tore, the pair made an emergency repair, with Parazynski attaching cufflinks to allow the array to expand safely.

The mission lasted 15 days, during which Wheelock orbited Earth 238 times. His second flight began on June 15, 2010, when he launched to the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-19 with Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker. He joined the Expedition 24 crew and participated in scientific investigations. After a pump module failed on July 31, 2010, he and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson conducted three spacewalks to replace it, an effort that caused long-term damage to his vision.

On September 22, 2010, he took command of the ISS at the start of Expedition 25, becoming the first U.S. Army officer to hold that position. He shared photos of Earth and space via Twitter, including images of Hurricane Earl in September 2010, and on October 22, 2010, he became the first person to "check in" from space using Foursquare. He returned to Earth on November 26, 2010, aboard the Soyuz.