Creighton, John O., 1943-
Dates
- Existence: 1943 April 28 -
Biographical Note: John O. Creighton
John O. Creighton served in the U.S. Navy and in NASA as an astronaut who participated in three separate Space Shuttle missions.
John Oliver Creighton was born on April 28, 1943, in Orange, Texas to Wilbur Oliver and Catherine Alberta (Bierbaum) Creighton. He spent the majority of his youth in Seattle, Washington. He graduated from Ballard High School in Seattle in 1961. Creighton then received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1966 and a Master of Science in Administration of Science and Technology from George Washington University in 1978.
Creighton received his aviator wings in 1967. Afterwards he served with Fighter Squadron 154 (VF-154) aboard the USS Ranger (CVA-61) from June 1968 until May 1970, flying McDonnell Doughlas F-4J Phantoms in the Vietnam War. Then, from June 1970 to February 1971, he attended the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. Upon his graduation he was assigned as a project test pilot with the Service Test Division at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River. He served as the Grumman F-14 engine development project officer, afterwards becoming a test pilot for the F-14 Tomcat. From 1973-1977 Creighton had two deployments aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65) with VF-2. He returned to the U.S. in July 1977, and was assigned to the Naval Air Test Center's Strike Directorate as operations officer and F-14 program manager. He logged more than 6,000 hours flying time, the majority of it in jet fighters, and completed 500 carrier landings and 175 combat missions.
Creighton was chosen to become a NASA astronaut candidate in 1978, after which time he was involved in three separate Space Shuttle missions but also held a variety of technical assignments in support of the Space Shuttle program. Beginning with Shuttle Mission STS-26, Creighton served as Lead "CAPCOM" for the first four Space Shuttle flights. Creighton was pilot of STS-51G which launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on June 17, 1985. During the mission the crew deployed various communications satellites. In March 1989 he was assigned to command STS-36 but continued to serve as Head of the Mission Support Branch in the Astronaut Office until commencing full time for his upcoming flight. For Shuttle Mission STS-36, Captain Creighton and his crew launched from the Kennedy Space Center on February 28, 1990 aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis. The STS-36 mission carried Department of Defense payloads and a number of secondary payloads. Creighton’s final Shuttle mission was aboard Discovery for STS-48, a five-day mission in September 1991 to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite. Altogether Creighton logged over 403 hours in space during his missions.
Following his missions with NASA, Creighton began working with the Boeing Company partly as a test pilot for new airplanes. Over the course of his career Creighton has been honored with numerous awards including the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross, ten Air Medals, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, the Vietnam Cross of Gallantry, the NASA Leadership Medal, three United States Space Flight Medals, the French Legion of Honor, and the Saudi Arabia King Fahd Medal. He was also a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots. He is married to Terry Stanford who is from Little Rock, Arkansas. As of 2018 he was living in the Seattle, Washington area and was active with the Museum of Flight.