Robert L. Behnken
Robert Louis Behnken is an American engineer, United States Air Force officer, test pilot, and NASA astronaut. His career spans shuttle assembly , development, and the first crewed orbital flight of Crew Dragon.
- Born
- July 28, 1970
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Creve Coeur, Missouri,United States
Flights
3
Spacewalks
10
EVA time
61 hours, 10 minutes
In space
93 days, 11 hours, 42 minutes
Bio
Behnken studied mechanical engineering and physics before earning graduate degrees at Caltech. He served as an Air Force engineer and test pilot before NASA selected him with Astronaut Group 18 in 2000.
He flew STS-123 and STS-130, both major International assembly missions, and performed extensive EVA work. In 2020, he flew SpaceX Demo-2 with Doug Hurley, the first crewed orbital launch from the United States after the shuttle's retirement.
During Demo-2, Behnken also served aboard the ISS during 63 and performed additional station EVAs. His career connects the late shuttle assembly era with the beginning of operational commercial crew transportation.