James Dutton

James Patrick Dutton Jr. (born November 20, 1968) is an engineer, former NASA astronaut pilot of the Class of 2004 (NASA Group 19), and a former test pilot in the US Air Force with the rank of colonel.

Education Dutton was born November 20, 1968, in Eugene, Oregon, where he received his early education; he attended Cal Young Middle School then graduated from Sheldon High School. He joined the Air Force and graduated first in his class from the United States Air Force Academy in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Astronautical Engineering. Along with being awarded the top cadet in order of graduation, in an unprecedented feat, he also received the top military cadet, top academic cadet, top pilot and top engineering student awards. He has subsequently earned in 1994 a Master of Science degree in Aeronautics & Astronautics from the University of Washington.

Career Air Force career Dutton is a member of the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1991. During this period he was a member of the intercollegiate Cadet Competition Flying Team.

Dutton was officially assigned to his first space flight as pilot for STS-131 in December 2008.

After his flight, he served as Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office Shuttle Branch from August 2010 to August 2011 and then Chief of Astronaut Office Exploration Branch from August 2011 until his retirement from NASA in June 2012.

STS-131

STS-131 (April 5–20, 2010) was a resupply mission to the International Space Station performed by Space Shuttle Discovery. Dutton flew as the pilot. He launched with Shuttle Commander Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Richard Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson, Naoko Yamazaki from JAXA and Clay Anderson.

He assisted Poindexter during rendezvous and landing and maneuver the orbiter during undocking and the fly-around. In addition, he served as lead shuttle robotic arm operator for the mission, responsible for airlock operations in preparation for EVAs and he assisted Wilson with the station robotic arm operations. The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 orbits.

Post NASA and Air Force career

After his retirement for the Air Force, he became an airline pilot with Southwest Airlines. In June 2020, Dutton joined Dynetics, Inc. as a technical advisor on their design for NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) supporting the Artemis program.

Family and interests Dutton is married to the former Erin Ruhoff, also from Eugene, and they have four boys. They currently live in Colorado Springs, Colorado

He is a member of the Society of Experimental Test Pilots and the Officers' Christian Fellowship.