Kenneth S. Reightler Jr.
Kenneth Stanley Reightler Jr. is a retired United States Navy officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut who piloted two shuttle missions.
- Born
- March 24, 1951
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland,United States
Flights
2
Spacewalks
0
EVA time
N/A
In space
13 days, 23 hours, 12 minutes
Bio
Reightler graduated from the United States Naval Academy and earned graduate degrees in aeronautical engineering. His Navy career included carrier aviation, test-pilot work, and engineering leadership.
He piloted STS-48, which deployed the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite, and STS-60, the first shuttle mission to fly a Russian cosmonaut. That second flight was an early bridge between Cold War-era programs and Shuttle-Mir cooperation.
Kenneth S. Reightler Jr. flew on STS-48; STS-60. The birthplace listed as Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland, United States gives the profile geographic context, but the career is best understood through the training, mission role, and program responsibilities described above.