Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Gary Eugene Payton,

USAF The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

, (born June 20, 1948) is an American

astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a List of human spaceflight programs, human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member of a spa ...

and USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer. Payton flew on the

STS-51-C STS-51-C (formerly STS-10) was the 15th flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program, and the third flight of Space Shuttle ''Discovery''. It launched on January 24, 1985, and made the fourth shuttle landing at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Ke ...

mission aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' in January 1985. He later served as Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force under the Bush and Obama Administrations.

Education

Payton graduated from high school in Rock Island,

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

, in 1966. He went on to attend

Bradley University Bradley University is a private university in Peoria, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1897, Bradley University enrolls 5,200 students who are pursuing degrees in more than 100 undergraduate programs and more than 30 graduate programs in fiv ...

, in

Peoria, Illinois Peoria ( ) is a city in Peoria County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. Located on the Illinois River, the city had a population of 113,150 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Ill ...

. After one year at Bradley, he entered the

United States Air Force Academy The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...

, in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

, graduating with a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

degree in

astronautical engineering Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astr ...

in 1971. He continued with his graduate education at

Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics The Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics is a school within the Purdue University College of Engineering, College of Engineering of Purdue University. The school offers Bachelor of Science, B.S., Master of Science, M.S., and ...

, in

West Lafayette, Indiana West Lafayette ( ) is a city in Wabash and Tippecanoe Townships, Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, approximately northwest of the state capital of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette is directly across the Wabash ...

, earning a

Master of Science A Master of Science (; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree. In contrast to the Master of Arts degree, the Master of Science degree is typically granted for studies in sciences, engineering and medici ...

degree in astronautical and

aeronautical engineering Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...

in 1972. He graduated from

pilot training Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills. Flight training can be conducted under a str ...

Craig AFB Craig Air Force Base near Selma, Alabama, was a U.S. Air Force undergraduate pilot training (UPT) installation that closed in 1977. Today the facility is a civilian airport known as Craig Field Airport and Industrial Complex (ICAO: KSEM; FAA: ...

, in

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

in 1973.

Career

From 1972 to 1976, Payton served as a U.S. Air Force pilot and instructor pilot, Craig AFB, Alabama. He has accumulated at least 1,080 hours in T-37,

T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: Aviation * Allison T38, an American turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, an American jet trainer aircraft * Slingsby T.38 Grasshopper, a British training glider Other uses * T38 (classification), a disabi ...

, and

T-39 T39 may refer to: * Cooper T39, a British sports car * Ericsson T39, a mobile phone * Guerchais-Roche T.39 a French touring monoplane * , a minesweeper of the South African Naval Services * North American T-39 Sabreliner, an American jet tr ...

aircraft. Payton served as a spacecraft test controller from 1976 to 1980, at

Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida. Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...

, in

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. He was selected for the USAF

Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program The Manned Spaceflight Engineer Program was an effort by the United States Air Force to train American military personnel as payload specialists for United States Department of Defense missions on the Space Shuttle program. Background The United St ...

in February 1980. Payton flew on the

mission aboard the Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' in January 1985 which launched and returned to land at the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the NASA, National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten NASA facilities#List of field c ...

, in

. STS-51C was the first dedicated

Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable launch system, reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. ...

Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an executive department of the U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and supervising the six U.S. armed services: the Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Space Force, ...

mission. The mission carried an Inertial Upper Stage and deployed a DoD satellite. This was the first shuttle mission that most on-orbit details were classified and not publicized. Payton traveled over 1.2 million miles in 48 Earth

orbits In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an physical body, object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an satellite, artificia ...

, and logged more than 73 hours in

space Space is a three-dimensional continuum containing positions and directions. In classical physics, physical space is often conceived in three linear dimensions. Modern physicists usually consider it, with time, to be part of a boundless ...

. From 1997 to 2000, Payton also served as NASA's Deputy Associate Administrator for Space Transportation Technology where he initiated, planned and led the Reusable Launch Vehicle technology demonstration program, which included the X-33, X-34, X-37 and DC-XA flight test projects. Prior to this, he was the Director of NASA's Space Transportation Division from 1995 to 1997. After leaving NASA, Payton joined the ORBIMAGE as its Vice President for Engineering and Operations. Payton was Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space Programs from 2005 to 2010. Prior to this, he served as Deputy for Advanced Systems, Missile Defense Agency from 2002 to 2005. He is currently distinguished visiting professor in the Schriever Chair in Astronautics at the United States Air Force Academy, teaching astronautical engineering.

Personal life

Gary Payton is married to Sue Payton and they have a daughter.

References

External links

Spacefacts biography of Gary Payton
{{DEFAULTSORT:Payton, Gary E. 1948 births Living people United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force colonels Purdue University School of Aeronautics and Astronautics alumni People from Rock Island, Illinois United States Air Force astronauts Space Shuttle program astronauts Military personnel from Illinois