Pierre J. Thuot
Encyclopedia
Pierre Joseph Thuot is a retired U.S. Navy captain and a NASA
astronaut
from 1985 to 1995.
, Connecticut
, Thuot considers Fairfax, Virginia, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, to be his hometowns. He is married to the former Cheryl Ann Mattingly of Leonardtown, Maryland, and they have two children. Thuot enjoys boating, golf, running, music, flying and family activities.
in 1985. He also graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2004.
He has over 3,500 flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft, and has over 270 carrier landings.
On his first flight, Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-36 which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 28, 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. Following 72 orbits of the Earth in 106 hours, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 4, 1990, after traveling 1.87 million miles.
Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-49, the maiden voyage of the , which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1992. During that mission, Thuot, along with astronaut Rick Hieb, performed three space walks which resulted in the capture and repair of the stranded Intelsat VI F3 communications satellite. The third space walk, which also included astronaut Tom Akers, was the first ever three-person space walk. This 8 hour and 29 minute space walk, the longest in history, broke a twenty year old record that was held by Apollo 17
astronauts. The mission concluded on May 16, 1992, with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base after orbiting the Earth 141 times in 213 hours and traveling 3.7 million miles.
On March 4, 1994, Thuot was launched aboard on STS-62, a microgravity science and technology demonstration mission which carried the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-2) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST-2) payloads. More than sixty experiments or investigations were conducted in scientific and engineering disciplines including materials science, human physiology, biotechnology, protein crystal growth, robotics, structural dynamics, atmospheric ozone monitoring and spacecraft glow. During the spacecraft glow investigation, Columbias orbital altitude was lowered to 105 nautical miles (194 km), the lowest ever flown by a Space Shuttle. STS-62, one of the longest Space Shuttle missions, concluded on March 18, 1994, with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center after orbiting the Earth 224 times in 13 days, 23 hours, and 16 minutes and traveling 5.8 million miles.
With the completion of his third mission, Thuot has logged over 654 hours in space, including over 17.7 hours on three space walks.
Thuot left NASA in June 1995, and returned to the Navy.
as a vice president in the Dulles, Virginia
-based firm's Space Systems Group.
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
astronaut
Astronaut
An astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
from 1985 to 1995.
Personal
Born on May 19, 1955, in GrotonGroton, Connecticut
Groton is a town located on the Thames River in New London County, Connecticut, United States. The population was 39,907 at the 2000 census....
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
, Thuot considers Fairfax, Virginia, and New Bedford, Massachusetts, to be his hometowns. He is married to the former Cheryl Ann Mattingly of Leonardtown, Maryland, and they have two children. Thuot enjoys boating, golf, running, music, flying and family activities.
Education
Thuot graduated from Fairfax High School, Fairfax, Virginia, in 1973. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977, and a Master of Science degree in systems management from the University of Southern CaliforniaUniversity of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
in 1985. He also graduated from the Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program in 2004.
Professional membership
Thuot is a member of the U.S. Naval Academy Alumni Association, the Association of Naval Aviation, the University of Southern California Alumni Association, the Association of Space Explorers-USA, the American Astronautical Society and an Associate Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics.Honors
He has been awarded three Defense Superior Service Medals, the Legion of Merit, three NASA Space Flight Medals, two NASA Exceptional Service Medals, the National Intelligence Medal of Achievement, the American Astronautical Society Flight Achievement and Victor A. Prather Awards for 1993, the National Defense Service Medal, two Navy Meritorious Unit Commendations, two Navy Battle Efficiency Awards, the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon, and seven NASA Group Achievement Awards. He held U.S. and absolute world records for total time spent on space walks: 8 hours and 29 minutes from 1992 until 2001.Flight experience
Thuot graduated 30th in his class from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1977 and commenced Naval Flight Officer training in July, 1977. He received his wings in August 1978 and then reported to Fighter Squadron 101 at NAS Oceana, Virginia Beach, Virginia, for initial F-14 Tomcat training as a Radar Intercept Officer (RIO). He was assigned to Fighter Squadron 14 and deployed to the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas aboard the and . While assigned to Fighter Squadron 14, he attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN). He was then selected to attend the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in May 1982. Upon graduation in June 1983, he worked as a project test flight officer at the Naval Air Test Center flying the F-14A Tomcat, A-6E Intruder and the F-4J Phantom II until June 1984 when he returned to the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School as a flight instructor.He has over 3,500 flight hours in more than 50 different aircraft, and has over 270 carrier landings.
NASA career
Selected as an astronaut by NASA in June 1985, Thuot has served in a variety of technical assignments. As the remote manipulator system (robot arm), crew equipment, and extravehicular activity (EVA) representative for the Astronaut Office, he participated in the design, development and evaluation of Space Shuttle payloads, crew equipment and crew procedures. He performed Space Shuttle flight software verification in the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory and served as a CAPCOM in the Mission Control Center, responsible for communications with the crew for numerous Space Shuttle missions. He served as the lead astronaut for Space Station integrated assembly and maintenance operations within the Astronaut Office. He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office Mission Support Branch, as well as supervising Astronaut Candidate training for the class of 1995. A veteran of three space flights, STS-36 in 1990, STS-49 in 1992 and STS-62 in 1994, Thuot has logged over 654 hours in space, including 17.7 hours on three space walks.On his first flight, Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-36 which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 28, 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. This mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. Following 72 orbits of the Earth in 106 hours, the STS-36 mission concluded with a lakebed landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on March 4, 1990, after traveling 1.87 million miles.
Thuot was a mission specialist on the crew of STS-49, the maiden voyage of the , which was launched from the Kennedy Space Center on May 7, 1992. During that mission, Thuot, along with astronaut Rick Hieb, performed three space walks which resulted in the capture and repair of the stranded Intelsat VI F3 communications satellite. The third space walk, which also included astronaut Tom Akers, was the first ever three-person space walk. This 8 hour and 29 minute space walk, the longest in history, broke a twenty year old record that was held by Apollo 17
Apollo 17
Apollo 17 was the eleventh and final manned mission in the American Apollo space program. Launched at 12:33 a.m. EST on December 7, 1972, with a three-member crew consisting of Commander Eugene Cernan, Command Module Pilot Ronald Evans, and Lunar Module Pilot Harrison Schmitt, Apollo 17 remains the...
astronauts. The mission concluded on May 16, 1992, with a landing at Edwards Air Force Base after orbiting the Earth 141 times in 213 hours and traveling 3.7 million miles.
On March 4, 1994, Thuot was launched aboard on STS-62, a microgravity science and technology demonstration mission which carried the United States Microgravity Payload (USMP-2) and the Office of Aeronautics and Space Technology (OAST-2) payloads. More than sixty experiments or investigations were conducted in scientific and engineering disciplines including materials science, human physiology, biotechnology, protein crystal growth, robotics, structural dynamics, atmospheric ozone monitoring and spacecraft glow. During the spacecraft glow investigation, Columbias orbital altitude was lowered to 105 nautical miles (194 km), the lowest ever flown by a Space Shuttle. STS-62, one of the longest Space Shuttle missions, concluded on March 18, 1994, with a landing at the Kennedy Space Center after orbiting the Earth 224 times in 13 days, 23 hours, and 16 minutes and traveling 5.8 million miles.
With the completion of his third mission, Thuot has logged over 654 hours in space, including over 17.7 hours on three space walks.
Thuot left NASA in June 1995, and returned to the Navy.
Post-Navy career
Thuot retired from the service in 1998 and took a job with Orbital Sciences CorporationOrbital Sciences Corporation
Orbital Sciences Corporation is an American company which specializes in the manufacturing and launch of satellites. Its Launch Systems Group is heavily involved with missile defense launch systems...
as a vice president in the Dulles, Virginia
Dulles, Virginia
Dulles, Virginia is an unincorporated area located in Loudoun County, Virginia, part of the Washington Metropolitan Area. The headquarters of Orbital Sciences Corporation, GeoEye, and ODIN technologies and the former headquarters of MCI Inc...
-based firm's Space Systems Group.