Barry 'Butch' Wilmore

Barry Eugene 'Butch' Wilmore was born on December 29, 1962, in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, and grew up nearby, where he walked on to the Tennessee Technological University football team, earned a starting role on the defensive line and at linebacker, and served as a team captain. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from Tennessee Tech and later a master's in aviation systems from the University of Tennessee. Commissioned in the U.S. Navy, he became a tactical aviator and flew combat missions during operations over Iraq, completing four operational deployments in the A-7E and F/A-18 Hornet from carriers including the USS John F. Kennedy, USS Enterprise, and USS Eisenhower. He then graduated as a test pilot at Patuxent River before NASA selected him as an astronaut in 2000.

Wilmore first flew in November 2009 as pilot of Space Shuttle Atlantis on STS-129, an eleven-day mission that delivered spare hardware and logistics carriers to the International Space Station. His second flight was a long-duration expedition: launching on a Soyuz in September 2014, he served as a flight engineer for Expedition 41 and then as commander of Expedition 42 through March 2015, a stay of roughly 167 days during which he conducted four spacewalks totaling about 25 hours to prepare the station for future commercial crew vehicles. On June 5, 2024, he commanded the first crewed flight of Boeing's CST-100 Starliner, launching with Sunita Williams on a mission planned to last about eight days. When problems with the Starliner's propulsion system prompted NASA to return the capsule uncrewed, Wilmore and Williams remained aboard the ISS far longer than intended, ultimately coming home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon with Crew-9 on March 18, 2025 — some 286 days after launch.

Over three missions Wilmore accumulated about 464 days in space and, after adding a fifth spacewalk with Williams during the extended stay in January 2025, five EVAs totaling roughly 31 hours. A devout Christian who has spoken openly about his faith, he is also known for coaching football and for his outdoors pursuits back in Tennessee, and he remains closely tied to the engineering programs at his alma mater. Recognized with the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Defense Superior Service Medal among other honors, Wilmore drew particular public admiration for his steady, matter-of-fact temperament during the prolonged Starliner mission — repeatedly voicing confidence that the crew would come home safely. He is a veteran commander whose career helped test the reliability of a new generation of commercial spacecraft.