Kevin A. Ford
From The Space Library
 Kevin A. Ford | |
| Birth Name | Kevin A. Ford |
|---|---|
| Birth Date | Jul 7 1960 |
| Occupation | NASA Astronaut, (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) |
Contents |
Personal Data
Born July 7, 1960 in Portland, Indiana. Montpelier, Indiana, is his hometown. Married to the former Kelly Bennett. They have two children, Anthony and Heidi. His father, Clayton Ford, resides in Indiana.
Education
Graduated from Blackford High School, Hartford City, Indiana in 1978. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1982, a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy State University in 1989, a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida in 1994 and a Ph.D. in Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1997. Graduate of Squadron Officer School, the Air Command and Staff College Associate Program and Air War College.
Experience
Ford was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program in 1982 and completed primary Air Force jet training at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, in 1984. He trained in the F-15 Eagle and was assigned to the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg Air Base, Germany, from 1984 to 1987, and then to the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Keflavik Naval Air Station, Iceland, until 1989, intercepting and escorting 18 Soviet combat aircraft over the North Atlantic. After spending 1990 as a student at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California, Ford flew flight test missions in the F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 3247th Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida from 1991 to 1994. Test experience there included multiple F-16 flutter missions, development of the ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispenser System, multiple safe separation, ballistics, and air-to-air missile development testing, including the first AMRAAM shot from the F-16 Air Defense Fighter variant. Following a three-year assignment to pursue full-time studies as a doctoral candidate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, he was assigned to the Air Force Test Pilot School where he served as the Director of Plans and Programs, taught academics and instructed students on flight test techniques in the F-15, F-16 and gliders. Ford has 4700 flying hours and holds FAA commercial certificates for airplanes, helicopters and gliders. He is a certificated flight instructor in airplanes and gliders. He retired from active duty military service in June 2008.
Spaceflight Experience
NASA EXPERIENCE: Ford was selected as a pilot by NASA and reported for training in August 2000. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office working advanced exploration issues, and on the development and test of the Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade. He served as Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia, from January to December of 2004. From January 2005 until July of 2008, he served as a Space Shuttle and International Space Station Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center, working the STS-115, STS-116, STS-117, STS-120, STS-122 and STS-123 shuttle missions, as well as station Expedition Stage Operations. In 2009 Ford was the pilot on STS-128 to the space station and has logged 332 hours and 53 minutes in space. Ford served as Pilot on Space Shuttle Mission STS-128 to the International Space Station (Construction Mission 17A), which launched just prior to midnight on August 28, 2009 from the Kennedy Space Center and landed on September 11, 2009 at Edwards AFB, California. Space Shuttle Discovery carried the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module "Leonardo" filled with 15,000 pounds of science and storage racks to the space station, delivered a new Ammonia Tank Assembly, returned a depleted one, returned the station EuTEF and MISSE experiments and exchanged station Expedition crew members. Discovery and her crew completed 219 Earth orbits in 13 days, 21 hours. Ford is currently serving as Flight Engineer for Expedition 33. He launched on October 23, 2012 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan along with Russian cosmonauts, Soyuz commander Oleg Novitskiy and Flight Engineer Evgeny Tarelkin. They were welcomed on the International Space Station by NASA Expedition 33 commander Sunita Williams, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko and Akihiko Hoshide of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency on October 25, 2012. In November, Ford will become commander of Expedition 34, ahead of return to Earth by Williams, Hoshide and Malenchenko. Ford, Novitskiy and Tarelkin will return to Earth in March 2013.
Special Honours
Distinguished Graduate of Detachment 225, Reserve Officer Training Corps, 1982. Distinguished Graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training, Columbus AFB, Mississippi, 1984. Distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, 1990. Awarded the Legion of Merit, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. Recipient of the Air Force Test Pilot School David B. Barnes Outstanding Flight Instructor Award, 1998.
Other Information
Oct-12
