Selected as a NASA astronaut candidate in May 1984, Culbertson completed basic astronaut training in June 1985. Technical assignments since then included: member of the team that redesigned and tested the
Space Shuttle nosewheel steering, tires, and brakes; member of the launch support team at
Kennedy Space Center for Shuttle flights
STS-61-A,
STS-61-B,
STS-61-C, and
STS-51-L; in 1986 he worked at the NASA Headquarters Action Center in
Washington, D.C., assisting with the
Challenger accident investigations conducted by NASA, the
Presidential Commission, and
U.S. Congress.
Spaceflight experience Commander A veteran of three space flights, Culbertson has logged over 143 days in
space.
STS-51 Discovery (September 12–22, 1993) was a ten-day mission during which the crew deployed the U.S.
Advanced Communications Technology Satellite (ACTS/TOS), and the
Shuttle Pallet Satellite (ORFEUS/SPAS) carrying U.S. and German scientific experiments, including an ultraviolet spectrometer. A seven-hour EVA was also conducted to evaluate
Hubble Space Telescope repair tools and methods. After the SPAS spacecraft had completed six days of free flight some 40 miles from
Discovery, the crew completed a successful rendezvous and recovered the SPAS with the Shuttle's robot arm. The mission concluded with the first night landing of the Shuttle at the Kennedy Space Center. Mission duration was 158 Earth orbits in 236 hours and 11 minutes. The
Expedition 3 crew launched on August 10, 2001, aboard
STS-105 Discovery and docked with the International Space Station on August 12, 2001. Culbertson lived and worked aboard the station for a total of 129 days, and was in command of the station for 117 days. He was the only American not to be on Earth during the
September 11 attacks. As the ISS passed over the
New York City area after the attacks, Culbertson took photographs of the smoke emanating from
Ground Zero in
lower Manhattan. He later learned that
the plane that struck
the Pentagon had been piloted (at takeoff) by his Naval Academy classmate
Charles Burlingame. The two had been aeronautical engineering majors together, and had been
F-4 fighter pilots. Culbertson had his trumpet onboard ISS, and with their Academy class having their 30th reunion, he played "
Taps," which he felt was especially fitting in that the two had also played in the academy's Drum & Bugle Corps together. The Expedition 3 crew left the station on December 15 aboard
STS-108 Endeavour, landing at Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on December 17, 2001. ==Post-NASA career==