Becoming an Astronaut
Scott Altman
Scott was born and raised in Illinois. His hometown of Pekin Illinois has named their Elementary School after Scott — one of the perks of going into Space.
At 18, Scott went off to University of Illinois, where he mastered in Aeronautical and Astonautical Engineering. This is now referred to as Aerospace Engineering, or as you may know it “Rocket Science”. Scott became a Rocket Scientist.
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Scott graduated in 4 years from University of Illinois and at 22, joined the Navy as an Ensign. Within 2 years, Scott earned his Naval Aviators Wings. He was now a Rocket Scientist and a Jet Pilot. His first deployments, he flew the F14 Tomcat.
At age 28, Scott was selected for the Naval Post Graduate School — Test Pilot School and graduated 2 years later with Masters in Aeronautical Engineering. Scott was then a Test Pilot for various F14 projects. Later, he was deployed to Iraq for Operation Southern Watch — ensuring compliance of Saddam Hussein with UN Resolutions. He earned an Air Medal for his role as a Strike Commander.
Scott then made his Hollywood appearance as the pilot “Flipping the Bird” during Top Gun. He performed many of the aerial stunts for the film.
Altman was selected as an Astronaut candidate in 1994, when he was 35 years old. He became a pilot on 2 missions, STS-90 Neurolab and STS-106 Atlantis. Then he became Mission Commander for STS-109 Columbia and STS-125 Atlantis.
