Spaceflight Now

Duane G. "Digger" Carey (Lieutenant Colonel, USAF)
NASA BIOGRAPHY
Posted: January 7, 2002

PERSONAL DATA: Born April 30, 1957 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Married to the former Cheryl Ann Tobritzhofer of St. Paul, Minnesota. They have two children. He enjoys motorcycle travel, racing motocross, camping, home-schooling his children, and reading science fiction. His parents reside in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her mother resides in St. Paul Minnesota. Her father is deceased.

EDUCATION: Graduated from Highland Park High School, St. Paul, Minnesota in 1975; received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis in 1981 and 1982, respectively.

ORGANIZATIONS: National Space Society, American Motorcyclist Association, Air Force Association.

SPECIAL HONORS: Awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and three Air Medals.

EXPERIENCE: Carey received his commission from the Reserve Officer Training Corps in 1981 and graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training in 1983. He flew the A-10A during tours at England Air Force Base, Louisiana, and Suwon Air Base, Republic of Korea. He completed F-16 training in 1988 and was assigned to Torrejon Air Base, Spain. In 1991, he was selected to attend the United States Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. After graduation in 1992, he worked as an F-16 experimental test pilot and System Safety Officer at Edwards Air Force Base.

He has logged over 3700 hours in more than 35 types of aircraft

NASA EXPERIENCE: Carey was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in April 1996. He reported to the NASA Johnson Space Center in August 1996. Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for flight assignment as a pilot. Initially, Carey was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems/Operations Branch. He is assigned as pilot on STS-109 scheduled for launch early in 2002.

Carey