Michael Coats

Michael Coats was an American astronaut who was born on January 16, 1946 in California. Before he became an astronaut, Coats served in the Vietnam War as a Naval fighter pilot. He has logged over 5000 hours of flight time on 28 types of aircraft.

Coats became an astronaut in 1978. He has spent over 463 hours in space on 3 spaceflights.

In 1984, Coats piloted Space Shuttle Discovery. This was the first flight of the shuttle. During this mission, the crew deployed three satellites. Coats commanded STS-29 in 1989. The Tracking and Data Relay satellite was deployed in this mission.

In 1991, Coats commanded STS-39. This was the first unclassified Department of Defense mission. Coats left NASA in 1991.

Last modified prior to September, 2000 by the Windows Team

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