Portrait of Robert Cabana Courtesy of NASA

Robert Cabana is an American astronaut who was born on January 23, 1949 in Minnesota. Before he became an astronaut, Cabana was a pilot for the Navy. He has flown over 5000 hours on 33 different aircraft.

Cabana became an astronaut in 1985. He has made three spaceflights, spending over 627 hours in space.

In 1990, Cabana piloted shuttle Discovery on a mission that deployed the Ulysses spacecraft. During this mission, the crew also did experiments on fire. Cabana also piloted shuttle Discovery in 1992. This mission was classified by the Department of Defense.

Cabana commanded the second International Microgravity Lab in 1994. Fifteen countries were represented in this 15-day mission. The crew conducted materials and life science research. Cabana commanded mission STS-88 in December 1997. 1997.