William George Gregory
William George Gregory is an American former NASA astronaut, retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel, test pilot, and engineer. Selected with NASA Astronaut Group 13 in 1990, he flew one long-duration shuttle science mission and represents the generation of shuttle pilots trained for increasingly specialized Spacelab and observatory flights.
- Born
- May 14, 1957
- Died
- N/A
- Birthplace
- Lockport, New York,United States
Flights
1
Spacewalks
0
EVA time
N/A
In space
16 days, 15 hours, 8 minutes
Bio
Gregory was born in Lockport, New York, and built his career through the Air Force Academy, graduate engineering study, and operational Air Force flying. His background included fighter and test-pilot work before NASA selected him as an astronaut candidate.
His only spaceflight was STS-67 aboard Endeavour in 1995. Gregory served as pilot on Astro-2, a marathon ultraviolet astronomy mission that used shuttle-based telescopes to observe stars, galaxies, and interstellar material over more than sixteen days.
After the flight, Gregory continued in technical and management work connected to aerospace and national-security systems. His career is less famous than some shuttle , but his mission shows how shuttle crews supported large science campaigns that could not fit into a simple satellite-deployment category.
Gregory's card belongs in the shuttle science story: Air Force pilot, NASA shuttle pilot, and crew member on one of the longest -based astronomy missions of the 1990s.