Bob Behnken

Robert Louis Behnken, born on July 28, 1970, was an American engineer and a former NASA astronaut. He also served as the Chief of the Astronaut Office. Behnken had a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering and reached the rank of colonel in the U.S. Air Force before joining NASA in 2000.

He flew on Space Shuttle missions STS-123 in 2008 and STS-130 in 2010, spending over 708 hours in space and more than 55 hours on spacewalks. Behnken was married to fellow astronaut Megan McArthur.

After the Space Shuttle program ended, he led the Astronaut Office from 2012 to 2015. In 2018, he was assigned to the SpaceX Dragon 2 as part of NASA's Commercial Crew Program. On May 30, 2020, Behnken and astronaut Doug Hurley launched on the Crew Dragon Demo-2 mission, becoming the first two astronauts to fly aboard a commercial spacecraft. They traveled to the International Space Station, where they stayed for 62 days. During this time, Behnken completed four spacewalks with astronaut Christopher Cassidy.

Education

Bob Behnken went to Pattonville High School in Maryland Heights, Missouri. He studied at Washington University in St. Louis and got degrees in mechanical engineering and physics in 1992.

He then went to the California Institute of Technology where he earned more degrees in mechanical engineering. While there, he worked on projects involving special control methods for machines. He also shared his teacher with another astronaut, Garrett Reisman.

Air Force career

Before joining graduate school, Bob Behnken studied at Washington University in St. Louis as an Air Force ROTC student. After finishing school, he began his service at Eglin AFB in Florida, working with new weapon systems.

He later attended the U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB in California. After graduating, he joined the F-22 test team, helping plan flights and manage tests. During this time, he also flew F-15 and F-16 aircraft to support the F-22 program.

NASA career

Bob Behnken was chosen to become an astronaut by NASA in July 2000 and began his training that August. After 18 months of training, he started working on supporting space shuttle launches and landings at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

In 2006, Behnken lived underwater for seven days as part of a research mission called NEEMO 11 inside the Aquarius underwater laboratory.

Behnken flew into space twice. In March 2008, he was part of the STS-123 mission, which delivered important parts to the International Space Station. He helped with three spacewalks during this trip. His second space journey was on STS-130 in February 2010, delivering more pieces to the space station, and he did three spacewalks again.

In 2012, Behnken became Chief of the Astronaut Office until 2015. Later, in 2020, he was part of the first test flight of the SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft, known as SpX-DM2. This mission successfully connected with the International Space Station, and he returned to Earth in August 2020. Behnken retired from NASA in November 2022.

Personal life

Bob Behnken is married to fellow astronaut Megan McArthur, and they have one son. Behnken has an amateur radio license with the call sign KE5GGX. His wife flew on the Crew-2 mission, using the same Dragon capsule and the same seat that he used during the Demo-2 mission. She returned from the International Space Station on November 8, 2021.

Awards and honors

Bob Behnken received many awards for his work. He was named an Outstanding Mechanical Engineering Senior at Washington University in 1992 and was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow from 1993 to 1996. He was also recognized as the Company Grade Officer of the Year at the Air Force Research Laboratory in 1997 and earned several medals from the Air Force.

In 2023, Behnken was given the Congressional Space Medal of Honor for his important mission to the International Space Station in 2020. Two ships used by SpaceX were named after him and his crewmate, Doug Hurley, in honor of their achievements.