13 Facts About Doug Hurley

Douglas Gerald Hurley was born on October 21,1966 and is an American engineer, former Marine Corps pilot, and former NASA astronaut.

Doug Hurley piloted Space Shuttle missions STS-127 and STS-135, the final flight of the Space Shuttle program.

Doug Hurley launched into space for the third time as commander of Crew Dragon Demo-2, the first crewed spaceflight from American soil since STS-135 and became, together with Bob Behnken, the first astronaut in history launching aboard a commercial orbital spacecraft.

Doug Hurley's call sign is "Chunky", and he was sometimes referred to by this name on the communication loops.

Doug Hurley was a distinguished graduate from both Tulane's Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps program and from USMC Officer Candidates School.

Doug Hurley received his commission as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps at Tulane University, New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1988.

Doug Hurley was then selected to attend the United States Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland and began the course in January 1997.

Doug Hurley was serving as the operations officer when selected for the astronaut program.

Doug Hurley has logged over 5,500 hours in more than 25 types of aircraft.

Doug Hurley worked shuttle landing and rollout, served on the Columbia Reconstruction Team at Kennedy Space Center and in the Exploration Branch in support of the selection of the Orion crew exploration vehicle.

Doug Hurley served as the NASA Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia.

In July 2011, Doug Hurley returned to space on the final shuttle flight, STS-135 on the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

On July 16,2021, NASA announced that Doug Hurley would be retiring from the agency after 21 years of service.