NASA has announced Astronaut Bob Behnken will retire from NASA on November 11th after 22 years of service.

“Bob Behnken is a distinguished and talented astronaut, and an effective ambassador for our never-ending mission to explore the cosmos,”

NASA Administrator, Bill Nelson.

Flight History

Throughout his service, Behnken flew on three missions, on two separate vehicles. In total, he spent 93 days in space.

STS-123

Behnken first flew as a Mission Specialist. STS-123 was an ISS assembly mission. You can learn more in our mission briefing by clicking here.

STS-130

Behnken flew again just 2 years later on another ISS assembly mission, this time carrying the Tranquility module and the incredible Cupola observatory. You can learn more in our mission briefing by clicking here.

SpaceX DM-2

Alongside Astronaut Doug Hurley, Behnken and Hurley flew the crew demonstration mission for SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft, the two became known as "the space dads".

The test was a tremendous success with Bob's wife flying on the second operational mission, Crew-2.

TLP wishes Behnken all the best in his future endeavours and applaud him for his service over the past 2 decades.