Bob Behnken | |
|---|---|
 Behnken in 2022 | |
| Born | Robert Louis Behnken (1970-07-28)July 28, 1970 (age 55) St. Ann, Missouri, U.S. |
| Education | Washington University (BS) California Institute of Technology (MS,PhD) |
| Spouse | Megan McArthur |
| Children | 1 |
| Space career | |
| NASA astronaut | |
| Rank | Colonel,USAF |
Time in space | 93d 11h 42m |
| Selection | NASA Group 18 (2000) |
TotalEVAs | 10 |
Total EVA time | 61h 10m |
| Missions | STS-123 STS-130 SpX-DM2 (Expedition 63) |
Mission insignia |     |
Robert Louis Behnken (/ˈbɛnkən/;[1] born July 28, 1970) is an American engineer, a formerNASA astronaut, and formerChief of the Astronaut Office.
Behnken holds aPh.D. inmechanical engineering and the rank ofcolonel in the U.S. Air Force, where he served before joining NASA in 2000. He flew aboardSpace Shuttle missionsSTS-123 (2008) andSTS-130 (2010) as amission specialist, accumulating over 708 hours in space, including 55 hours ofspacewalk time.[2][3] He is married to fellow astronautMegan McArthur.[4]
Following retirement of the Space Shuttle, Behnken wasChief of the Astronaut Office from 2012 to 2015. Assigned to theSpaceX Dragon 2 in 2018 as part of NASA'sCommercial Crew Program, Behnken launched aboard the spacecraft's first crewed mission with fellow astronautDoug Hurley on May 30, 2020, and became one of the first two astronauts launching aboard a commercial orbital spacecraft in spaceflight history.[5] The mission,Crew Dragon Demo-2, took Behnken and Hurley to theInternational Space Station (ISS), where they docked and stayed aboard for 62 days. Behnken completed four spacewalks with NASA astronautChristopher Cassidy.[6]
Behnken attendedPattonville High School inMaryland Heights, Missouri (inSt. Louis County), and went on to earnBachelor of Science degrees inmechanical engineering andphysics fromWashington University in St. Louis in 1992. He then attended theCalifornia Institute of Technology, where he earned anMS degree in 1993 and aPhD in 1997, both in mechanical engineering.[3][7] While at Caltech he shared a doctoral advisor, Christopher E. Brennen, with another future NASA astronaut,Garrett Reisman.[8]
Behnken's graduate thesis research was in the area ofnonlinear control applied to stabilizing rotating stall and surge inaxial-flow compressors.[9] The research included nonlinear analysis, real-time software implementation development, and extensive hardware construction. During his first two years ofgraduate study, Behnken developed and implemented real-time control algorithms and hardware for flexible robotic manipulators.[3]
Before entering graduate school, Behnken was anAir Force ROTC student at Washington University in St. Louis, and after graduate school was assigned to enterAir Force active duty atEglin AFB,Florida. While at Eglin, he worked as a technical manager and developmental engineer for newmunitions systems. Behnken was next assigned to attend theU.S. Air Force Test Pilot School Flight Test Engineer's course atEdwards AFB,California. After graduating, he was assigned to theF-22 Combined Test Force (CTF) and remained at Edwards. While assigned to the F-22 program, Behnken was the lead flight test engineer for Raptor 4004 and a special projects test director. These responsibilities included flight testsortie planning, control room configuration development, and test conduct. Behnken also flew in both theF-15 andF-16aircraft in support of the F-22 flight test program.[3]
Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000, Behnken reported for training in August 2000. Following the completion of 18 months of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Shuttle Operations Branch supporting launch and landing operations atKennedy Space Center, Florida.[10]
In September 2006, Behnken served as anaquanaut during theNEEMO 11 mission aboard theAquariusunderwater laboratory, living and working underwater for seven days.[11]
Behnken was a crew member of theSTS-123 mission that delivered theJapanese Experiment Module and theSpecial Purpose Dexterous Manipulator to theInternational Space Station in March 2008.[3] Behnken took part in threespacewalks during the mission.
Behnken flew to space for the second time as a mission specialist onSTS-130, which launched at 04:14 EST (09:14 UTC) February 8, 2010. This mission delivered theTranquility module and Cupola to the International Space Station. Behnken again took part in three spacewalks during this mission.[12]
In July 2012, Behnken was namedChief of the Astronaut Office, succeedingPeggy Whitson. He held the job until July 2015, when he was succeeded byChris Cassidy, after being selected as one of four astronauts training to fly spacecraft contracted under NASA'sCommercial Crew Program.[13]
In August 2018, Behnken was assigned to the first test flightSpX-DM2 of the SpaceXCrew Dragon.[14] Behnken and fellow crewmemberDouglas Hurley were humorously compared in news and social media to the fictional brothersBob and Doug McKenzie because of their friendship when they participated in the first commercial astronaut launch on SpaceXCrew Dragon Demo-2.[15][16][17][18]It successfully launched on May 30, 2020. The spacecraft successfully docked with theInternational Space Station on May 31, 2020. Behnken andDoug Hurley joined the ISSExpedition 63 crew, which also consisted of NASA astronautChris Cassidy and Russian cosmonautsIvan Vagner andAnatoli Ivanishin.[19] They returned to Earth in the same capsule on August 2, 2020.[20] His seat of the SpaceXEndeavour was later used by his wife,K. Megan McArthur inSpaceX Crew-2 mission, which was the second flight ofEndeavour.[21]
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Behnken retired from NASA on November 11, 2022.[22]
Behnken is married to fellow astronautMegan McArthur and they have one son.[23] Behnken holds anamateur radio license with thecall sign KE5GGX.[24][25] His wife flew on theCrew-2 mission, using the same Dragon capsule and the same seat that he used during theDemo-2 mission. She returned from theInternational Space Station on November 8, 2021.
This article incorporates text in thepublic domain from theNational Aeronautics and Space Administration.
| Preceded by | Chief of the Astronaut Office 2012–2015 | Succeeded by |
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