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William Anthony "Bill" Oefelein (; born March 29, 1965) is an American freelance adventure writer and photographer and former
NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeeding t ...
astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
who, on his only spaceflight, piloted the
STS-116 STS-116 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Discovery''. ''Discovery'' lifted off on 9 December 2006 at 20:47:35 EST. A previous launch attempt on 7 December had been canceled due to cl ...
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially 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. Its official program na ...
mission. Oefelein gained media attention on February 5, 2007 when fellow astronaut
Lisa Nowak Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo, born May 10, 1963) is an American aeronautical engineer, and former NASA astronaut and United States Navy officer. Nowak served as naval flight officer and test pilot in the Navy, and was selected by NASA for NASA ...
was arrested in Florida and charged with attempting to kidnap his girlfriend,
U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Sign ...
Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
Colleen Shipman. Nowak later pleaded guilty to felony burglary and misdemeanor battery. Oefelein admitted to a two-year affair with Shipman, and he and Nowak became the first astronauts ever dismissed from NASA. Following the dismissals, NASA created its first astronaut
Code of Conduct A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party or an organization. Companies' codes of conduct A company code of conduct is a set of rules which is commonly writt ...
.


Early life and education

Oefelein was born on March 29, 1965, in
Fort Belvoir, Virginia A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...
, and grew up in
Anchorage, Alaska Anchorage () is the largest city in the U.S. state of Alaska by population. With a population of 291,247 in 2020, it contains nearly 40% of the state's population. The Anchorage metropolitan area, which includes Anchorage and the neighboring Ma ...
, where he flew
floatplane A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
s, and graduated from
West Anchorage High School West Anchorage High School (formerly Anchorage High School) is a public high school in Anchorage, Alaska. The school is part of the Anchorage School District (ASD). Opened in 1953, West is the oldest of ASD's eight major high schools. Serving the ...
in 1983. He earned his
Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree in
electrical engineering Electrical engineering is an engineering discipline concerned with the study, design, and application of equipment, devices, and systems which use electricity, electronics, and electromagnetism. It emerged as an identifiable occupation in the l ...
from
Oregon State University Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering co ...
in 1988, where he became a member of
Sigma Alpha Epsilon Sigma Alpha Epsilon (), commonly known as SAE, is a North American Greek-letter social college fraternity. It was founded at the University of Alabama on March 9, 1856. Of all existing national social fraternities today, Sigma Alpha Epsilon is t ...
. Ten years later he received a
Master of Science A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...
degree in aviation systems from the
University of Tennessee Space Institute A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...
.


Career

In 1988, Oefelein received his commission as an
Ensign An ensign is the national flag flown on a vessel to indicate nationality. The ensign is the largest flag, generally flown at the stern (rear) of the ship while in port. The naval ensign (also known as war ensign), used on warships, may be diffe ...
in the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...
from Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School in
Pensacola, Florida Pensacola () is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle, and the county seat and only incorporated city of Escambia County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 54,312. Pensacola is the principal ...
. He entered flight training in
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
in 1989 and was designated a
Naval Aviator Naval aviation is the application of military air power by navies, whether from warships that embark aircraft, or land bases. Naval aviation is typically projected to a position nearer the target by way of an aircraft carrier. Carrier-based a ...
in September 1990. His early assignments included overseas deployments to the
Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Persis, Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a Mediterranean sea (oceanography), me ...
as a strike fighter pilot in the
F/A-18 Hornet The McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet is an all-weather, twinjet, twin-engine, supersonic aircraft, supersonic, carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable, Multirole combat aircraft, multirole combat aircraft, designed as both a Fighter aircraft, ...
. After attending the
United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program The United States Navy Strike Fighter Tactics Instructor program (SFTI program), more popularly known as Top Gun (stylized as TOPGUN), teaches fighter and strike tactics and techniques to selected naval aviators and naval flight officers, wh ...
( TOPGUN), Oefelein graduated in 1995 from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at
NAS Patuxent River Naval Air Station Patuxent River , also known as NAS Pax River, is a United States naval air station located in St. Mary’s County, Maryland, on the Chesapeake Bay near the mouth of the Patuxent River. It is home to Headquarters, Naval Air Sys ...
,
Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, where he later served as an instructor. In 1998, he was working as a strike operations officer for
Carrier Air Wing Eight Carrier Air Wing Eight (CVW-8), is a United States Navy aircraft carrier air wing based at Naval Air Station Oceana, Virginia. The air wing is attached to the aircraft carrier Mission To conduct carrier air warfare operations and assist in the ...
at
NAS Oceana Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana or NAS Oceana is a United States Navy Naval Air Station located in Virginia Beach, Virginia. Nowadays, the station is located on 23.9 km2. It has total of 250 aircraft deployed and buildings valued at $800 mill ...
,
Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
. In June 1998, Oefelein was selected by the
NASA Astronaut Corps The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...
to be an
Astronaut Candidate The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...
in
NASA Astronaut Group 17 NASA Astronaut Group 17, were chosen by NASA in 1998 and announced on June 4 of that year. The group of 32 candidates included eight pilots, 17 mission specialists, and seven international mission specialists who became NASA astronauts. They be ...
. After two years of training and evaluation, he was promoted to
Astronaut An astronaut (from the Ancient Greek (), meaning 'star', and (), meaning 'sailor') is a person trained, equipped, and deployed by a human spaceflight program to serve as a commander or crew member aboard a spacecraft. Although generally r ...
, receiving his
Astronaut Pin The United States Astronaut Badge is a badge of the United States, awarded to military and civilian personnel who have completed training and performed a successful spaceflight. A variation of the astronaut badge is also issued to civilians who ...
, with qualification for the NASA position of
Space Shuttle The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially 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. Its official program na ...
pilot. He was initially assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Advanced Vehicles Branch and Capsule Communicator (
CAPCOM is a Japanese video game developer and video game publisher, publisher. It has created a number of List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises, with its most commercially successful being ''Resident Evil' ...
) Branch. Oefelein's only mission was piloting Space Shuttle '' Discovery'' on
STS-116 STS-116 was a Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station (ISS) flown by Space Shuttle '' Discovery''. ''Discovery'' lifted off on 9 December 2006 at 20:47:35 EST. A previous launch attempt on 7 December had been canceled due to cl ...
, which launched on December 9, 2006, logging over 308 hours in space before landing on December 22. Five months after completing his only space mission, and three months after his married former girlfriend, fellow astronaut
Lisa Nowak Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo, born May 10, 1963) is an American aeronautical engineer, and former NASA astronaut and United States Navy officer. Nowak served as naval flight officer and test pilot in the Navy, and was selected by NASA for NASA ...
, attacked his current girlfriend Colleen Shipman, NASA terminated Oefelein's service with the space agency on May 23, 2007, stating that NASA and the U.S. Navy had made "a mutual decision" that his service with the NASA Astronaut Corps was no longer required, and that he would be reassigned to the U.S. Navy. Oefelein and Nowak were the first astronauts ever dismissed by NASA, which created a written Code of Conduct for the NASA Astronaut Corps following their termination. Oefelein retired from the Navy in the fall of 2008, returning to Alaska to start a business called Adventure Write as a freelance writer and photographer with Shipman, then his fiancée and current wife.


Spaceflight experience

Oefelein served as
pilot An aircraft pilot or aviator is a person who controls the flight of an aircraft by operating its directional flight controls. Some other aircrew members, such as navigators or flight engineers, are also considered aviators, because they a ...
for the STS-116 mission aboard Space Shuttle ''Discovery'' from December 9 to 22, 2006. The seven-member crew on this 12-day mission continued construction of the
International Space Station The International Space Station (ISS) is the largest modular space station currently in low Earth orbit. It is a multinational collaborative project involving five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA ...
by adding the P5 spacer truss segment during the first of four spacewalks. The next two spacewalks rewired the station's power system, preparing it to support the addition of European and Japanese science modules by future Shuttle crews. The fourth
spacewalk Extravehicular activity (EVA) is any activity done by an astronaut in outer space outside a spacecraft. In the absence of a breathable atmosphere of Earth, Earthlike atmosphere, the astronaut is completely reliant on a space suit for environmen ...
was added to allow the crew to coax and retract a stubborn solar panel to fold up accordion-style into its box. ''Discovery'' also delivered a new crew member and more than two tons of equipment and supplies to the station. Almost two tons of items no longer needed on the station returned to Earth with STS-116.


Personal life

Oefelein was married to his first wife and had not yet been accepted to the
NASA Astronaut Corps The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...
when he met married and recently selected
Astronaut Candidate The NASA Astronaut Corps is a unit of the United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) that selects, trains, and provides astronauts as crew members for U.S. and international space missions. It is based at Johnson Space Ce ...
Lisa Nowak Lisa Marie Nowak (née Caputo, born May 10, 1963) is an American aeronautical engineer, and former NASA astronaut and United States Navy officer. Nowak served as naval flight officer and test pilot in the Navy, and was selected by NASA for NASA ...
in 1996. When Oefelein became an Astronaut Candidate in 1998, he and Nowak became romantically involved while training together at NASA. Oefelein and his first wife, who had two children together, divorced in 2005. Oefelein continued his relationship with the still married Nowak, while also starting a relationship, in November 2006, with U.S. Air Force Captain Colleen Shipman. Shipman and Oefelein exchanged racy e-mails throughout his December 2006 space mission, and he ended his relationship with Nowak in January 2007. On February 5, 2007, Nowak was arrested at the
Orlando International Airport Orlando International Airport is a major public airport located 6 miles (10 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2021, it handled 19,618,838 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and seventh busiest airport i ...
following an alleged assault on Shipman. On November 10, 2009, Nowak pleaded guilty to lesser charges and was sentenced to time served plus one year's probation. On July 10, 2009, Oefelein and Shipman were living together in Alaska when they announced their engagement. The couple married in summer 2010, and live in
Wasilla, Alaska Wasilla ( Dena'ina: ''Benteh'') is a city in Matanuska-Susitna Borough, United States and the fourth-largest city in Alaska. It is located on the northern point of Cook Inlet in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley of the southcentral part of the st ...
, with their son, born in 2012. Shipman is now an author under the pen name C.M. McCoy, and released her first novel in December 2015. In September 2011, Oefelein survived a small plane crash in rural Alaska.


See also

* *


Notes


External links

* Oefelein and Shipman's adventure writing website
adventurewrite.com
' {{DEFAULTSORT:Oefelein, William 1965 births Living people United States Navy astronauts People from Fort Belvoir, Virginia Military personnel from Anchorage, Alaska Oregon State University alumni United States Naval Test Pilot School alumni University of Tennessee alumni United States Navy officers United States Naval Aviators United States Navy personnel of the Gulf War Recipients of the Air Medal Space Shuttle program astronauts