Spokesperson Bios

U.S. Army astronaut Col. Doug Wheelock said without the Army he wouldn’t have had the operational and leadership skills as well as the level of education needed to achieve his goal of becoming an astronaut.  Wheelock will use his leadership skills when he serves as the commander of the International Space Station during his upcoming mission scheduled for May 2010.  He will be the first active duty Soldier to assume this role. 

Wheelock, a 49-year-old from Windsor, N.Y., graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1983 with a bachelor’s degree in applied science and engineering and was commissioned as a 2nd Lt. in the Army’s infantry force. 

In 1984, Wheelock became an Army aviator and served as a combat aviation section leader, platoon leader, company executive officer, battalion operations officer and commander of an air cavalry troop.  He was later assigned as an advanced weapons research and development engineer in the Army.

Wheelock decided to continue his education, and the Army paid for him to attend the Georgia Institute of Technology where he received a master’s degree in aerospace engineering in 1992.  After that, Wheelock became an experimental test pilot with the Army Aviation Technical Test Center and later with the National Program Office for Intelligence and Electronic Warfare.  Wheelock is a dual-rated master Army aviator and an FAA-rated commercial pilot.

Through the Army, Wheelock applied to be an astronaut, and in 1998, NASA selected him to report to astronaut candidate training.  At NASA, Wheelock also worked as the Russian liaison in the Astronaut Office where he used the technology skills he learned in the Army to conduct the testing and integration of Russian hardware and software developed for the International Space Station.  He also led U.S. and Russian teams to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to oversee bench reviews, inventory, loading and launch of the first four unpiloted space station resupply capsules.   

While at NASA, Wheelock worked in several different roles including in mission control as a capsule communicator (CAPCOM), the primary communicator between the ground support team and the astronauts in orbit.

In 2005, Wheelock was assigned as NASA’s Director of Operations – Russia.  He was responsible for supporting Russia-based training, logistic and administrative needs of NASA astronauts preparing for flight on the International Space Station.  He was the liaison between Star City, Russia, and NASA operations in Houston including the medical, training, science, contracting, public affairs and administration departments.  He was also responsible for liaison duties between NASA and the Russian Space Agency, as well as the Russian aerospace industry.

Wheelock launched to the International Space Station in 2007 and is currently training for his second space mission scheduled for May 2010.