12 Facts About Scott Altman

Scott Douglas "Scooter" Altman was born on August 15,1959 and is a retired United States Navy Captain and naval aviator, engineer, test pilot and former NASA astronaut.

Scott Altman is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions.

Scott Altman is married to the former Jill Shannon Loomer of Tucson, Arizona and has three children, the second oldest of whom graduated Rice University in Houston, Texas in May 2009.

Scott Altman is a resident of Pekin, Illinois, along with his parents, Fred and Sharon Altman.

Scott Altman is a brother of the Sigma Chi fraternity.

Scott Altman was commissioned as an ensign in August 1981, and received his Naval Aviator wings in February 1983.

Scott Altman then took the new F-14D on its first operational deployment with VF-31 Tomcatters, where he served as maintenance officer and later operations officer.

Scott Altman was awarded the Air Medal for his role as a strike leader flying over Southern Iraq in support of Operation Southern Watch.

Scott Altman has logged over 7,000 flight hours in more than 40 types of aircraft.

Scott Altman completed a year of training and was initially assigned to work technical aspects of orbiter landing and roll out issues for the Astronaut Office Vehicle Systems Branch.

Scott Altman was the pilot on STS-90 and STS-106, and was the mission commander on STS-109 and STS-125.

Scott Altman retired from NASA in September 2010 to join ASRC Federal Research and Technology Solutions in Greenbelt, Maryland.