James Dutton | |
|---|---|
 Dutton in 2009 | |
| Born | James Patrick Dutton Jr. (1968-11-20)November 20, 1968 (age 57) |
| Other names | Mash |
| Education | United States Air Force Academy (BS) University of Washington (MS) |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 15d 2h 47m[1] |
| Selection | NASA Group 19 (2004) |
| Missions | STS-131 |
Mission insignia |  |
James Patrick "Mash"Dutton Jr. (born November 20, 1968) is anengineer, formerNASAastronautpilot of the Class of 2004 (NASA Group 19), and a formertest pilot in theUS Air Force with the rank ofcolonel.
Dutton was born November 20, 1968, inEugene, Oregon, where he received his early education; he attended Cal Young Middle School then graduated fromSheldon High School. He joined the Air Force and graduated first in his class from theUnited States Air Force Academy in 1991 with aBachelor of Science degree inAstronautical Engineering. Along with being awarded the top cadet in order of graduation, in an unprecedented feat, he also received the top military cadet, top academic cadet, top pilot and top engineering student awards. He has subsequently earned in 1994 aMaster of Science degree inAeronautics &Astronautics from theUniversity of Washington.[2]
Dutton is a member of the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1991. During this period he was a member of the intercollegiate Cadet Competition Flying Team.[3] Dutton's pilot training was atSheppard AFB,Texas.
In 1993–1994, Dutton completed his master's degree at theUniversity of Washington,Seattle, Washington.
In 1995 Dutton undertookF-15C training atTyndall AFB,Florida, then flew as an operationalF-15C pilot with the493d Fighter Squadron "Grim Reapers" atRAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, from October 1995 to May 1998. During this time he was deployed overIraq and flew over 100 combat hours providing air superiority in support ofOperation Provide Comfort andOperation Northern Watch over northern Iraq. In May 1998, Dutton joined the422d Test and Evaluation Squadron atNellis AFB,Nevada, and flew operational test missions in the F-15C.[2]
He was selected to attend theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) and graduated with the Class 00A (the "Dawgs") in December 2000. Dutton served with the416th Flight Test Squadron flying theF-16 until June 2002.[2]
He joined theF-22 Combined Test Force flying the Raptor with the411th Flight Test Squadron atEdwards AFB,California, logging over 350 flight hours from August 2002 to June 2004.[2]
After retiring from theUS Air Force in 2014 as a Colonel, Dutton has over 3,300 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft.[2]
Dutton was selected byNASA as an astronaut candidate in May 2004 and received his astronaut pin (qualification) on February 10, 2006, with his classmates ofGroup 19. Dutton was initially assigned to the Exploration Branch working on the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), latter namedOrion. He served as Ascent and EntryCAPCOM forSpace Shuttle missionSTS-122 andSTS-123.[3]
Dutton was officially assigned to his first space flight as pilot forSTS-131 in December 2008.[4]
After his flight, he served as Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office Shuttle Branch from August 2010 to August 2011 and then Chief of Astronaut Office Exploration Branch from August 2011 until his retirement from NASA in June 2012.
STS-131 (April 5–20, 2010) was a resupply mission to the International Space Station performed bySpace Shuttle Discovery.[5] Dutton flew as the pilot. He launched with Shuttle CommanderAlan Poindexter and Mission SpecialistsRichard Mastracchio,Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger,Stephanie Wilson,Naoko Yamazaki from JAXA andClay Anderson.[6] Once in orbit, they joined ISSExpedition 23 crew members.[7]
He assisted Poindexter during rendezvous and landing and maneuver the orbiter during undocking and the fly-around. In addition, he served as lead shuttle robotic arm operator for the mission, responsible for airlock operations in preparation for EVAs and he assisted Wilson with the station robotic arm operations.[8] The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 orbits.[6]
After his retirement for the Air Force, he became an airline pilot withSouthwest Airlines.[9] In June 2020, Dutton joined Dynetics, Inc. as a technical advisor on their design for NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) supporting theArtemis program.[10]
Dutton is married to the former Erin Ruhoff, also from Eugene, and they have four boys. They currently live inColorado Springs, Colorado[11]
He is a member of theSociety of Experimental Test Pilots and theOfficers' Christian Fellowship.[2]
This article incorporatespublic domain material from websites or documents of theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)NASA Astronaut Group 18 ← NASA Astronaut Group 19 →NASA Astronaut Group 20 | |||||||
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