Portrait of Kevin Chilton Courtesy of NASA

Kevin Chilton is an American astronaut who was born on November 3, 1954, in California. Before he became an astronaut, Chilton was an Air Force test pilot.

Chilton became an astronaut in 1987. He has spent over 704 hours in space on three spaceflights.

Chilton made his first spaceflight in 1992 aboard STS-49. This was the first flight of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. In 1994, Chilton flew aboard STS-59. This mission used radar to study the Earth's atmosphere.

Chilton commanded STS-76 in 1996. The crew conducted the third docking with the Russian space station Mir. Chilton is currently the Deputy Program Manager for the International Space Station.