Bob Behnken

Robert Louis Behnken, known as Bob, is an American astronaut, born on 28 July 1970 in Creve Coeur, Missouri. He earned a bachelor of science in physics and mechanical engineering from Washington University in 1992 and a master of science and doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology. A lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force, he worked as an operations engineer on avionics with the F-22 Combined Test Force at Edwards Air Force Base in California. NASA selected him on 26 July 2000 in its eighteenth astronaut group. He flew twice on Space Shuttle Endeavour, on STS-123 in March 2008 and STS-130 in February 2010, and then on the Crew Dragon SpX-DM2 mission from 30 May to 2 August 2020, for 93 days 11 hours 42 minutes in space overall. He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office at Johnson Space Center from August 2012 to July 2015 and retired on 11 November 2022.