Twitpics From Space By Douglas H. Wheelock

He was selected as a member of Class 104 at the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and upon completion was assigned as an Experimental Test Pilot with the Army Aviation Technical Test Center (ATTC). His flight testing was focused in the areas of tactical reconnaissance and surveillance systems in the OH-58D(I), UH-60A/L, RU-21H and C-23 aircraft. He served as Division Chief for fixed-wing testing of airborne signal and imagery intelligence systems in support of the National Program Office for Intelligence and Electronic Warfare. He is also a graduate of the Army Airborne and Air Assault Courses, the Infantry and Aviation Officer Advanced Courses, the Combined Arms Services Staff School, the Material Acquisition Management Course, and the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College.
A dual-rated Master Army Aviator; he has logged over 2500 flight hours in 43 different rotary and fixed-wing aircraft.
Wheelock was assigned to the NASA Johnson Space Center in August 1996 as a Space Shuttle integration test engineer. His technical duties involved engineering liaison for launch and landing operations of the Space Shuttle. He was selected as the vehicle integration test team lead for the joint Space Shuttle and Russian Space Station MIR mission STS-86, and lead engineer for International Space Station (ISS) hardware fit checks.