Chief of the Astronaut Office

The Chief of the Astronaut Office is the most senior leadership position for active astronauts at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The Chief Astronaut serves as head of the NASA Astronaut Corps and is the principal advisor to the NASA Administrator on astronaut training and operations. The Chief's responsibilities include managing Astronaut Office resources and operations and helping to develop operating concepts and assignments for astronaut flight crew.^[1]

Chief of the Astronaut Office of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration
NASA Seal
Incumbent Joseph M. Acaba since February 2, 2023
NASA Astronaut Corps
First holder	Deke Slayton
Deputy	Shannon Walker

History

When Deke Slayton was grounded from the Mercury Seven due to a heart condition, he took on the position of Coordinator of Astronaut Activities and informally held the title of "chief astronaut". In this role, he held responsibility for the operation of the astronaut office.^[2]

The position of Chief of the Astronaut Office was officially created in July 1964, when Alan Shepard was named as the first Chief Astronaut. His responsibilities included monitoring the coordination, scheduling, and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts. This included monitoring the development and implementation of training programs to assure the flight readiness of pilot and non-pilot personnel for space flights; furnishing pilot evaluations applicable to the design, construction, and operations of spacecraft systems and related equipment; and providing scientific and engineering observations to facilitate mission planning, formulation of operational procedures, and selection and conduct of experiments for each flight.^[3]

The Chief of the Astronaut Office often returns to active duty once their term is complete.

List of Chief Astronauts

#	Portrait	Name	NASA Group	Started	Resigned	Deputies	Notes
1		Deke Slayton (1924–1993)	1959 NASA Group 1	September 18, 1962	July 8, 1964		Held position of Coordinator of Astronaut Activities and was referred to unofficially as "Chief Astronaut"
2		Alan Shepard (1923–1998)	1959 NASA Group 1	July 8, 1964	August 7, 1969		First person to formally have title of Chief of the Astronaut Office
3		Tom Stafford (1930–2024)	1962 NASA Group 2	August 7, 1969	June 25, 1971		Stafford held the position while Shepard prepared for and flew Apollo 14.
4		Alan Shepard (1923–1998)	1959 NASA Group 1	June 25, 1971	January 14, 1974
5		John Young (1930–2018)	1962 NASA Group 2	January 14, 1974	April 15, 1987	Paul J. Weitz	Acting Chief during STS-1 training was Alan Bean.[4]
6		Dan Brandenstein (1943–)	1978 NASA Group 8	April 27, 1987	October 1992	Steven Hawley	Hawley was Acting Chief while Brandenstein prepared for and flew STS-49, the first flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour.
7		Robert Gibson (1946–)	1978 NASA Group 8	December 8, 1992	September 6, 1994	Linda Godwin	Gibson handed the position over to Cabana to begin training for STS-71, the first Shuttle docking to Mir.
8		Robert Cabana (1949–)	1985 NASA Group 11	September 6, 1994	October 1997	Linda Godwin	Cabana handed the position over to Cockrell to begin training for STS-88, the first International Space Station assembly mission.
9		Kenneth Cockrell (1950–)	1990 NASA Group 13	October 1997	October 1998		Cockrell later flew two Shuttle missions.
10		Charles Precourt (1955–)	1990 NASA Group 13	October 1998	November 2002	Kent Rominger and Steve Smith
11		Kent Rominger (1956–)	1992 NASA Group 14	November 2002	September 2006	Andy Thomas and Peggy Whitson
12		Steven W. Lindsey (1960–)	1994 NASA Group 15	September 2006	October 2009	Janet Kavandi and Sunita Williams (February 2008 to October 2009).	Lindsey resigned when he was assigned to command STS-133, which at the time was planned to be the final Space Shuttle mission.
13		Peggy Whitson (1960–)	1996 NASA Group 16	October 2009	July 2012	Rick Sturckow (October 2009 to August 2011); Michael Barratt, MD, and then subsequently Robert Behnken and Eric Boe	Whitson was the first woman and first non-pilot to serve as Chief Astronaut. She resigned when she went back on active flight status.[5]
14		Robert Behnken (1970–)	2000 NASA Group 18	July 2012	July 2015	Eric Boe	Behnken and Boe both returned to flight status, working on the Commercial Crew Program Behnken later flew on SpaceX Crew Demo 2.
15		Christopher Cassidy (1970–)	2004 NASA Group 19	July 2015	June 2, 2017	Patrick Forrester	Cassidy returned to flight status, and was assigned to Expedition 62/63.
16		Patrick Forrester (1957–)	1996 NASA Group 16	June 2, 2017	December 20, 2020	Gregory R. Wiseman, Megan McArthur Behnken, Scott Tingle	Forrester took a leave of absence to pursue a personal opportunity outside of NASA.
17		Gregory R. Wiseman (1975–)	2009 NASA Group 20	December 20, 2020	February 2, 2023	Andrew Feustel	Stepped down to return to flight rotation, November, 2022. Feustel acted as an acting chief between November 2022 to February 2023.
18		Joseph M. Acaba (1967–)	2004 NASA Group 19	February 2, 2023	present	Andrew Feustel and Shannon Walker

Notes

1. "NASA Names Astronaut Reid Wiseman New Chief of Astronaut Office". Jsc.nasa.gov. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
2. "Astronaut Bio: Deke Slayton 6/93". Jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
3. "Astronaut Bio: Alan B. Shepard, Jr. 7/98". Jsc.nasa.gov. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
4. "Alan Bean, Astronaut Speakers". Barberusa.com. Archived from the original on 2014-01-02. Retrieved 2014-07-13.
5. "NASA - NASA Astronaut Mark Kelly Resumes Training For STS-134 Mission". Nasa.gov. 2011-02-04. Archived from the original on 2011-02-07. Retrieved 2014-07-13.