Portrait of Ken Cockrell Courtesy of NASA

Ken Cockrell is an American astronaut who was born on April 9, 1950, in Texas. Before he became an astronaut, Cockrell worked as an aerospace engineer.

Cockrell became an astronaut in 1991. He has spent over 906 hours in space on three spaceflights.

Cockrell made his first spaceflight in 1993 aboard STS-56. The crew studied the Earth and the Sun during this mission. In 1995, Cockrell flew aboard STS-69. The crew deployed a satellite. Cockrell commanded STS-80 in 1996.