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Kenneth D. Cameron

Cleveland-born Marine Corps test pilot and Vietnam veteran who piloted STS-37 (1991) and commanded STS-56 (1993) and STS-74 (1995), the first shuttle flight to add a module to a space station, and who was NASA's first director of operations in Star City, Russia.

Born November 29, 1949, Cleveland

Kenneth D. Cameron
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
November 29, 1949, Cleveland (Cuyahoga County) source
Also known as
Ken Cameron, Kenneth D. Cameron
Known as
Aviation Space, Military, Science Engineering, Business

Kenneth D. Cameron is living. This page covers their public life only, from published sources. Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com

Life story

Ken Cameron was born in Cleveland in 1949 and graduated from Rocky River High School in 1967. He enlisted in the Marine Corps, was commissioned through Officer Candidate School, and served a year in Vietnam as an infantry platoon commander with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and then with the Marine guard at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. He earned Naval Aviator wings in 1973, flew A-4M Skyhawks, took bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautics and astronautics at MIT (1978, 1979) and became a Navy-trained test pilot. Selected by NASA in 1984, he piloted STS-37 (1991), which deployed the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory, commanded STS-56 (1993) and commanded STS-74 (1995), which docked with Mir and attached a new docking module, and in 1994 he set up NASA's first operations office at Star City outside Moscow. He left NASA in 1996 for General Motors and Saab, returned after the 2003 Columbia accident as a founding engineer and later deputy safety director of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, and retired again in 2008. His Ohio ties are his birth and boyhood in greater Cleveland and his place among Ohio's 25 astronauts.

Ohio ties

  • Cleveland (1949)
    birthplace Cuyahoga County · source
  • Rocky River (Rocky River High School) (to 1967)
    graduated from Rocky River High School (1967 per Wikipedia) Cuyahoga County · source
  • Cleveland (2008)
    front row, far left, among the Ohio astronauts gathered in Cleveland on August 29, 2008 for NASA's 50th anniversary Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

  1. 1949 Born November 29 in Cleveland, Ohio. source
  2. 1967 Graduated from Rocky River High School in Rocky River, Ohio. source
  3. 1970 Commissioned a second lieutenant at Officer Candidate School, Quantico, after enlisting in the Marine Corps at Parris Island. source
  4. 1970-1972 Between his 1970 commission and the start of flight training at Pensacola in 1972, served a one-year Vietnam tour as an infantry platoon commander with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, then with the Marine Security Guard at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon, and was executive officer of a company at Camp Lejeune. source
  5. 1973 Received Naval Aviator wings at Pensacola and went on to fly A-4M Skyhawks with Marine Attack Squadron 223 at Yuma, Arizona. source
  6. 1978 Earned a B.S. (1978) and then an M.S. (1979) in aeronautics and astronautics at MIT, with a research fellowship at the C.S. Draper Laboratory. source
  7. 1983 Graduated from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River and became a project officer and test pilot on the F/A-18, A-4 and OV-10. source
  8. 1984 Selected by NASA in May with Astronaut Group 10; he became an astronaut in June 1985 and later served as CAPCOM for five missions. source
  9. 1991 Piloted STS-37 Atlantis (April 5-11), which deployed the Gamma Ray Observatory after crewmates freed its stuck antenna on an unscheduled spacewalk. source
  10. 1993 Commanded STS-56 Discovery (April 8-17), carrying the ATLAS-2 atmospheric laboratory and deploying and retrieving the Spartan observatory. source
  11. 1994 Served as NASA's first Director of Operations in Star City, Russia, setting up support for astronauts training there, and trained on Soyuz and Mir systems and in Russian L-39 jets. source
  12. 1995 Commanded STS-74 Atlantis (November 12-20), the second shuttle docking with Mir and the first use of the shuttle to attach a new module, the Russian-built Docking Module, to a space station. source
  13. 1996 Left NASA in August for Hughes Training, a General Motors subsidiary; in September 1997 GM sent him to Saab in Sweden as vehicle line executive for the Saab 9-3. source
  14. 2002 Earned an MBA from Michigan State University while working at the GM Technical Center near Detroit. source
  15. 2003 Returned to NASA in October after the Columbia accident as a founding principal engineer of the NASA Engineering and Safety Center at Langley; he became its deputy director for safety in June 2005. source
  16. 2008 Retired from NASA in December to join Northrop Grumman as director of Houston operations; in August he had joined Ohio's astronauts in Cleveland for NASA's 50th anniversary. source
  17. 2015 Listed as 'Kenneth D. Cameron of Cleveland' among Ohio's 25 astronauts in Ohio House Resolution 28. source

Stories

From a Saigon embassy guard to a shuttle commander

Cameron's route to space started in the ranks. After enlisting in the Marine Corps at Parris Island and earning a commission at Quantico, he went through Vietnamese language school and spent a year in Vietnam, first leading an infantry platoon with the 1st Battalion, 5th Marines and then with the Marine Security Guard at the U.S. Embassy in Saigon. His decorations include the Navy Commendation Medal with Combat 'V' and the Combat Action Ribbon. Back home he trained as a jet pilot, flew A-4M Skyhawks, studied at MIT on a Marine degree program and became a test pilot. He commanded his first shuttle mission, STS-56, in April 1993.

Source

Building onto Mir

Cameron flew his last mission, STS-74, in November 1995 as commander of Atlantis, the second shuttle docking with the Russian station Mir. Unlike the first docking flight, which swapped crews, this one delivered hardware: a Russian-built Docking Module carried in the payload bay with two solar arrays stowed on it. On the third day Canadian mission specialist Chris Hadfield used the robot arm to lift the module from its stowed position so that it could be attached to Mir as a permanent extension, giving later shuttles more clearance when they docked. It was the first time a shuttle had been used to assemble a module onto a space station, and NASA treated it as a rehearsal for building the International Space Station. Cameron had spent part of 1994 in Star City as NASA's first director of operations there, learning Soyuz and Mir systems.

Source

Sites to know

Homes, graves, markers, museums and monuments; the numbered ones are on the map.

1

Ohio places

Where Kenneth D. Cameron was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Documents

Primary records: patents, letters, court and government files, nominations and old county histories, each at the archive that holds it.

Pictures

Free to use with the credit shown. Select a picture for the original and its license.

  • NASA Astronaut group 10, selected in 1984. Group of 17.
    NASA Astronaut group 10, selected in 1984. Group of 17.
    Public domain
  • Hopeful that today will bring better conditions for launch, the STS-74 astronauts get ready for an early morning lunch i
    Hopeful that today will bring better conditions for launch, the STS-74 astronauts get ready for an early morni...
    Public domain
  • Astronaut Kenneth Cameron in Cleveland August 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary.
    Astronaut Kenneth Cameron in Cleveland August 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA's 50th anniversary.
    Public domain
  • The five STS-74 astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis look out overhead windows on the aft flight deck toward the
    The five STS-74 astronauts aboard the space shuttle Atlantis look out overhead windows on the aft flight deck ...
    Public domain
  • An all-star gathering of legendary American astronauts appeared in Cleveland August 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA's 50th an
    An all-star gathering of legendary American astronauts appeared in Cleveland August 29, 2008 to celebrate NASA...
    Public domain
  • This is the STS-37 Crew portrait. Pictured from left to right are Kenneth D. (Ken) Cameron, pilot; Jay Apt, mission spec
    This is the STS-37 Crew portrait. Pictured from left to right are Kenneth D. (Ken) Cameron, pilot; Jay Apt, mi...
    Public domain
  • The STS-56 crew portrait includes five astronauts. Seated from the left are Stephen S. Oswald, pilot; and Kenneth D. Cam
    The STS-56 crew portrait includes five astronauts. Seated from the left are Stephen S. Oswald, pilot; and Kenn...
    Public domain
  • The crew assigned to the STS-74 mission included (seated left to right) James D. Halsell, pilot and Kenneth D. Cameron,
    The crew assigned to the STS-74 mission included (seated left to right) James D. Halsell, pilot and Kenneth D....
    Public domain
  • Mission Specialist (MS) Linda M. Godwin, Mission Commander Steven R. Nagel and Mission Specialist Jerry L. Ross watching
    Mission Specialist (MS) Linda M. Godwin, Mission Commander Steven R. Nagel and Mission Specialist Jerry L. Ros...
    Askeuhd / CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Senator John Glenn at the ceremony transferring the Space Shuttle Discovery to the National Air and Space Museum. Former
    Senator John Glenn at the ceremony transferring the Space Shuttle Discovery to the National Air and Space Muse...
    Steven Fine / CC BY-SA 4.0

Sources

Confidence. Medium: the main facts were confirmed, but some details (often an address or ZIP code) were not.

Every link goes to the original source. Profile researched 2026-10-15.

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