FCS

Tech Hall of Famer Barry "Butch" Wilmore to command Starliner mission

HOUSTON, Texas – Tennessee Tech Hall of Famer Barry “Butch” Wilmore has plenty of experience leading space missions. So when astronaut Chris Ferguson stepped down from the first crewed mission of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner, Wilmore was an easy choice to lead the way.

Wilmore gives the new vessel a complete roster of NASA veterans. The CST-100 Starliner was developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew program with the goal to develop and construct privately-owned spacecraft that NASA could use to transport astronauts to the International Space Station following the retirement of the space shuttle program in 2011.