Frank L. Culbertson Jr.
Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. is an American naval aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, former NASA astronaut, and former International . Selected by NASA in 1984, he flew during the classified shuttle era, the shuttle assembly era, and the earliest permanent ISS .
- Born
- May 15, 1949
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Charleston, South Carolina,United States
Flights
3
Spacewalks
1
EVA time
5 hours, 4 minutes
In space
143 days, 14 hours, 50 minutes
Bio
Culbertson graduated from the United States Naval Academy and served as a Navy pilot and test pilot before NASA. His first two spaceflights, STS-38 and STS-51, were shuttle missions before permanent station crews became the center of NASA human spaceflight.
His defining mission was Expedition 3. He launched to the ISS aboard STS-105, commanded the station from August to December 2001, and returned aboard STS-108. During that mission he became the only American not on Earth during the September 11 attacks.
Culbertson's Expedition 3 service occurred while the ISS was still young, with assembly, research, maintenance, visiting vehicles, and station habitability all still developing together. His mission helped prove that permanent station operations could continue through real-world crisis.
After NASA, Culbertson moved into aerospace leadership, including work connected to Orbital Sciences and Northrop Grumman. His career links Navy test flying, shuttle command, early ISS command, and commercial aerospace management.