Brian Duffy during his last space flight. Photo: NASA

Four-time space shuttle flier Brian Duffy (Col., USAF) has retired from the astronaut corps to accept a senior management position at Lockheed Martin. Duffy also will retire from the U.S. Air Force at the end of June.

"Brian, in his time here at NASA, made tremendous contributions to our programs, both as an astronaut and as a senior manager," said Director of Flight Crew Operations, Jim Wetherbee. "We are sorry to see him go, but wish him the best in his new endeavors and are fortunate he'll be working still in the space program."

In his most recent mission, STS-92 in October 2000, Duffy commanded a crew that continued assembly of the International Space Station by attaching the Z1 Truss and a pressurized mating adapter to the vehicle. Previously, Duffy commanded STS-72 in 1996 and served as pilot in his first two missions, STS-45 in 1992 and STS-57 in 1993. He logged more than 40 days in space.

Duffy, looking forward to his new role in support of the space program, said, "I've been honored to have been a part of the NASA/JSC team for the last sixteen years. I've learned that the success of the program is a direct result of the people who dedicate themselves to safely flying missions. They make the very difficult look very easy."

Duffy's future will be with Lockheed Martin's Consolidated Space Operations Contract. He will serve as CSOC's associate program manager at Kennedy Space Center.