Terry W. Virts
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Terry W. Virts (born December 1, 1967) is a retired NASA
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 ...
, International Space Station Commander and colonel in the United States Air Force.


Background and education

Virts was born in Baltimore, Maryland, but considers Columbia, Maryland, to be his hometown. He graduated from Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, Maryland in 1985. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics (with a French minor) from the United States Air Force Academy in 1989 and a master of aeronautical science degree in aeronautics from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 1997. While at the Air Force Academy, Virts attended the École de l'Air in 1988 on an exchange program.


Military career

Virts was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy in 1989 and earned his pilot wings at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona. He completed basic fighter lead-in training at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico followed by formal training in the
F-16 Fighting Falcon The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful ...
with the
56th Tactical Fighter Wing The 56th Fighter Wing is a fighter wing in the United States Air Force. It is the world’s largest Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II wing and one of two Air Force F-35 training locations. Additionally, it is one of two active-duty F-16 training ...
at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. He was then assigned to the
31st Tactical Fighter Wing The 31st Fighter Wing (31 FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe major command and the Third Air Force. It is stationed at Aviano Air Base, Italy, a North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) base ...
at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida. After
Hurricane Andrew Hurricane Andrew was a very powerful and destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that struck the Bahamas, Florida, and Louisiana in August 1992. It is the most destructive hurricane to ever hit Florida in terms of structures damaged ...
struck southern Florida in 1992, his squadron was moved to Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. He was later assigned to the
36th Fighter Squadron The 36th Fighter Squadron is part of the US Air Force's 51st Operations Group at Osan Air Base, South Korea. It operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions. The squadron was first activated ...
at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, and the
22nd Fighter Squadron The 22nd Fighter Squadron, sometimes written as 22d Fighter Squadron, (22 FS) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 52nd Operations Group and stationed at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany. Originally constituted ...
at
Spangdahlem Air Base Spangdahlem Air Base (IATA: SPM, ICAO: ETAD, former code EDAD) is a NATO air base with the USAF as a tenant constructed between 1951 and 1953 and located near the small German town of Spangdahlem, approximately 30 km NNE of the city of Trier ...
, Germany. Virts was selected for Test Pilot School in 1997 at
Edwards Air Force Base Edwards Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in California. Most of the base sits in Kern County, but its eastern end is in San Bernardino County and a southern arm is in Los Angeles County. The hub of the base is E ...
, California. Following graduation, he was an Experimental Test Pilot at the F-16 Combined Test Force. He has logged more than 5,300 flight hours in 40 different aircraft.


NASA career

Virts was selected as a Space Shuttle pilot by NASA in 2000. His technical assignments included lead astronaut for the NASA
T-38 T38 or T-38 may refer to: * T38 (classification), a disability sport classification for disability athletics * T.38, a standard for fax over IP * T-38 tank, a Soviet light tank * Allison T38, a turboprop aircraft engine * Northrop T-38 Talon, a U.S ...
program, Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) test crewmember, Expedition 9 crew support astronaut, CAPCOM, and lead astronaut for
SLS SLS may refer to the Space Launch System, a launch vehicle developed by NASA. It may also refer to: Education * Stanford Law School, California, U.S. * Sydney Law School, Australia * Symbiosis Law School, India * Same language subtitling, of TV ...
. On February 8, 2010, Virts launched on his first spaceflight as the pilot of STS-130 aboard Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', carrying the ''
Tranquility Tranquillity (also spelled tranquility) is the quality or state of being tranquil; that is, calm, serene, and worry-free. The word tranquillity appears in numerous texts ranging from the religious writings of Buddhism, where the term ''passaddhi'' ...
'' module as well as the '' Cupola'' on the final assembly flight of the International Space Station. ''Endeavour'' landed on February 22, 2010. On November 23, 2014, Soyuz TMA-15M carrying Virts, Samantha Cristoforetti and Anton Shkaplerov launched from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome The Baikonur Cosmodrome ( kk, Байқоңыр ғарыш айлағы, translit=Baiqoñyr ğaryş ailağy, ; russian: Космодром Байконур, translit=Kosmodrom Baykonur, ) is a spaceport in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to R ...
, Kazakhstan. It successfully docked at the International Space Station roughly six hours later. On February 28, 2015, following the death of ''
Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...
'' actor Leonard Nimoy, who played
Spock Spock is a Character (arts), fictional character in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. He first appeared in the Star Trek: The Original Series, original ''Star Trek'' series serving aboard the starship USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), USS ''Enterprise ...
, Virts tweeted an image from the International Space Station of his Vulcan salute, improvised by the actor when he was asked to portray an alien life form's desire that others live long and prosper, as the ISS flew over Boston, the city of the actor's birth. With the impending scheduled departure of
Soyuz TMA-14M Soyuz TMA-14M was a 2014 flight to the International Space Station. It transported three members of the Expedition 41 crew to the International Space Station. TMA-14M is the 123rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching in 1967. ...
in March 2015, Virts assumed command of the International Space Station as commander of
Expedition 43 Expedition 43 was the 43rd expedition to the International Space Station. It commenced on 11 March 2015 with the undocking of Soyuz TMA-14M, returning the crew of Expedition 42 to Earth and ended with the departure of Soyuz TMA-15M on 11 June 20 ...
. Soyuz TMA-15M landed on June 11, 2015, in Kazakhstan. Virts retired from NASA in August 2016.


Post-NASA career

Virts tours the world as a public speaker and business consultant. He is an author, filmmaker and screenwriter who is developing literary and screen projects. In 2019, Terry Virts, part of a crew of eight aviation explorers, successfully accomplished the fastest circumnavigation of Earth via both geographic poles by aeroplane on July 11, 2019, in a world record time of 46hrs, 40mins, 22sec. The record was recognised by Guinness World Records and the
Fédération Aéronautique Internationale The (; FAI; en, World Air Sports Federation) is the world governing body for air sports, and also stewards definitions regarding human spaceflight. It was founded on 14 October 1905, and is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland. It maintai ...
FAI. On December 11, 2020, Virts appeared on '' The Joe Rogan Experience''


Awards and honors

Virts graduated with Academic Distinction from the United States Air Force Academy and Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, was a distinguished graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and F-16 training at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida. His military decorations include the Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal, and the Air Force Commendation Medal.


Publications

* – A coffee table book from National Geographic; contains mostly photographs of Earth, with additional photos of the Space Shuttle ''Endeavour'', the International Space Station and related subjects; also contains stories about Virts' experiences as an astronaut. * – A limited edition, luxury replication of the Apollo 11 Flight Plan. * – An Insiders Guide To Leaving Planet Earth.


See also

*''
A Beautiful Planet ''A Beautiful Planet'' is a 2016 American documentary film directed, written, and produced by Toni Myers, and narrated by actress Jennifer Lawrence. It was originally released exclusively for IMAX theatres. Created in cooperation with the Nati ...
'' – 2016 IMAX documentary film showing scenes of Earth which features Virts and other ISS astronauts.
''One More Orbit''
– A mission and documentary film. In 2019, Virts circumnavigated the planet in a
Gulfstream G650 The Gulfstream G650 is a large business jet produced by Gulfstream Aerospace.
via the North and South Poles in honor of the Apollo 11 mission's 50th anniversary. The mission broke the world time and speed records, earning Guinness World and FAI records.


References


External links

*
Spacefacts biography of Terry W. Virts, Jr.

''Howard County Times'': "Oakland Mills grad set for space launch"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virts, Terry W. 1967 births Living people Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University alumni United States Air Force Academy alumni United States Air Force officers U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School alumni American test pilots Recipients of the Air Medal United States Air Force astronauts Commanders of the International Space Station Space Shuttle program astronauts Spacewalkers