Robert L. Gibson

Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson (born October 30, 1946), (Capt, USN, Ret.), is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer.

Gibson was born October 30, 1946, in Cooperstown, New York.

He graduated from Huntington High School, Huntington, New York as a part of the Class of 1964, and went on to earn an Associate degree in engineering science from Suffolk County Community College in 1966.

He received a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1969.

Gibson entered active duty with the U.S. Navy in 1969.

He was commissioned through the Aviation Officer Candidate School (AOCS), and proceed to flight training.

He received basic and primary flight training at Naval Air Station Pensacola and Naval Air Station Saufley Field, Florida, and Naval Air Station Meridian, Mississippi.

He completed advanced flight training at Naval Air Station Kingsville, Texas and was assigned to Fighter Squadron 121 (VF-121) at Naval Air Station Miramar, California for replacement training in the F-4 Phantom II.

While assigned to Fighter Squadron 111 (VF-111) and Fighter Squadron 1 (VF-1) from April 1972 to September 1975, he saw duty aboard aircraft carriers USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) and USS Enterprise (CVN-65), flying combat missions in Southeast Asia in the F-4 with VF-111 and making the initial operational carrier deployment of the F-14 Tomcat with VF-1.

He is a graduate of the Navy Fighter Weapons School, also known as "TOPGUN."

Gibson returned to the United States and an assignment as an F-14A instructor pilot with Fighter Squadron 124 (VF-124) at Naval Air Station Miramar.

He graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland in June 1977 and later became involved in the test and evaluation of improvements to the F-14A aircraft while assigned to the Naval Air Test Center's Strike Aircraft Test Directorate.

Selected as a NASA astronaut, he continued to be promoted, eventually achieving the rank of captain in the U.S. Navy and the rank at which he retired from active naval service.

Charles F. Bolden, his copilot on STS-61-C, described Gibson and John Young as the two best pilots he had met "in my life in aviation, over thirty-five years; never met two people like them. Everyone else gets into an airplane; John and Hoot wear their airplane. They're just awesome".

Gibson's flight experience included over 6,000 flying hours (14,000 hours in total) in over 140 types of civil and military aircraft.

He holds an airline transport pilot license.

Selected by NASA in January 1978, Gibson became an astronaut in August 1979.

Gibson flew five missions: STS-41-B in 1984, STS-61-C in 1986, STS-27 in 1988, STS-47 in 1992, and STS-71 in 1995.

On his first space flight, Gibson was the pilot on the crew of STS 41-B which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on February 3, 1984.

The flight accomplished the deployment of two Hughes 376 communications satellites which later failed to reach desired geosynchronous orbits due to upper-stage rocket failures.

The STS 41-B mission marked the first checkout of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (MMU), and Manipulator Foot Restraint (MFR), with Bruce McCandless II and Bob Stewart performing two EVAs (spacewalks).

The German Shuttle Pallet Satellite (SPAS), Remote Manipulator System (RMS), six "Getaway Specials", and materials processing experiments were included on the mission.

The eight-day orbital flight of Challenger culminated in the first-ever landing at the Kennedy Space Center on February 11, 1984.

Gibson was the commander of the STS-61-C mission, and the first of only four people under the age of 40 to command an STS Orbiter.

The seven-man crew on board the Orbiter Columbia launched from the Kennedy Space Center on January 12, 1986.

During the six-day flight, the crew deployed the SATCOM Ku satellite and conducted experiments in astrophysics and materials processing.

The mission concluded with a successful night landing at Edwards Air Force Base, California, on January 18, 1986.

Gibson subsequently participated in the investigation of the Space Shuttle Challenger accident, and also participated in the redesign and recertification of the solid rocket boosters.

As the commander of STS-27, Gibson and his five-man crew launched from the Kennedy Space Center on December 2, 1988, aboard the Orbiter Atlantis.

The mission carried a Department of Defense payload, and a number of secondary payloads.

After 68 orbits of the Earth the mission concluded with a dry lakebed landing on Runway 17 at Edwards Air Force Base on December 6, 1988.

The mission is noteworthy due to the severe damage Atlantis sustained to its critical heat-resistant tiles during ascent.

A retired NASA astronaut, he also served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1992 to 1994.

Today Gibson is active as a professional pilot, racing regularly at the annual Reno Air Races.

Gibson served as Chief of the Astronaut Office (December 1992 to September 1994) and as Deputy Director, Flight Crew Operations (March–November 1996).

He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2013, and has received several military decorations throughout his career.

In 2006 he was required to stop flying for the airlines because he reached his 60th birthday.

He still holds a multi-engine and instrument rating.

He has held a private pilot rating since age 17.

Gibson has also completed over 300 carrier landings.