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Kevin Anthony Ford
NASA Astronaut
Status	Active
Born	July 7, 1960 (1960-07-07) (age 49) Portland, Indiana
Rank	Colonel, USAF
Time in space	13d 20h 54m
Selection	2000 NASA Group
Missions	STS-128
Mission insignia

Kevin Anthony Ford (born July 7, 1960 in Portland, Indiana) is a retired United States Air Force Colonel and a NASA astronaut. He is married with two children. Ford has received a number of special honors and awards, some of which are the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Aerial Achievement Medal and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. Ford has also logged more than 4,000 flying hours and also holds FAA commercial certificates for airplanes, helicopters and gliders. Ford has served in many roles at NASA since his selection in July 2000. The roles include as a Capsule Communicator or CAPCOM. He was also the Director Of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia from January 2004 to January 2005. He recently participated on STS-128 as the pilot.

Personal

Ford was born in Portland, Indiana and considers Montpelier, Indiana his hometown. Married to the former Kelly Bennett, they have two children, Anthony and Heidi. His parents are Clayton and Barbara Ford, who reside in Indiana.

He graduated from Blackford High School, Hartford City, Indiana in 1978. He received his Bachelor of Science Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Notre Dame in 1982, a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy State University in 1989, a Master of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Florida in 1994, and a Ph.D. in Astronautical Engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology in 1997. He is the Graduate of Squadron Officer School, the Air Command, Staff College Associate Program, and Air War College.

He is a Distinguished Graduate of Detachment 225, Reserve Officer Training Corps, 1982. He is also a distinguished Graduate of Undergraduate Pilot Training, Columbus AFB, Mississippi, 1984. A distinguished Graduate of the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, 1990.

Awards and honors

Ford has received the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Commendation Medal, the Aerial Achievement Medal, and the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. He is also the recipient of the Air Force Test Pilot School David B. Barnes Outstanding Flight Instructor Award, 1998.

Military career

Ford was commissioned through the Reserve Officer Training Corps program in 1982 and completed primary Air Force jet training at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi in 1984. He trained in the F-15 Eagle and was assigned to the 22nd Tactical Fighter Squadron, Bitburg Air Base, Germany, from 1984-1987, and then to the 57th Fighter Interceptor Squadron at Keflavik Naval Air Station, Iceland until 1989, intercepting and escorting 18 Soviet combat aircraft over the North Atlantic. After spending 1990 as a student at the United States Air Force Test Pilot School, Edwards Air Force Base, California, Ford flew flight test missions in the F-16 Fighting Falcon with the 3247th Test Squadron at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida from 1991-1994. Test experience there included multiple F-16 flutter missions, development of the ALE-47 Countermeasures Dispenser System, multiple safe separation, ballistics, and fuse tests, and air-to-air missile development testing, including the first AMRAAM shot from the F-16 Air Defense Fighter variant. Following a three-year assignment to pursue full-time studies as a doctoral candidate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, he was assigned to the Air Force Test Pilot School where he served as the Director of Plans and Programs, taught academics, and instructed students on flight test techniques in the F-15, F-16, and gliders. Ford has 3500 flying hours and holds FAA commercial certificates for airplanes, helicopters, and gliders. He is a certificated flight instructor in airplanes and gliders. Ford retired from the Air Force in June 2008 as a Colonel.

NASA career

Selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000, Ford reported for training in August 2000. Following the completion of two years of training and evaluation, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Advanced Vehicles Branch, working advanced exploration issues, and to the Space Shuttle Branch, working on the development and test of the Shuttle Cockpit Avionics Upgrade. He served as Director of Operations at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia from January 2004 to January 2005. Colonel Ford currently trains for and works space missions as a Space Shuttle and Space Station CAPCOM in the Mission Control Center. Ford was launched as the pilot of the STS-128 on August 28, 2009.

External links

• NASA bio
• Spacefacts biography of Kevin A. Ford