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Terence T. Henricks

Air Force test pilot from Woodville who piloted two space shuttle missions and commanded two more, including the 1995 'All-Ohio' STS-70 flight, and was the first person to log over 1,000 hours as a shuttle pilot and commander.

Born July 5, 1952, Bryan

Terence T. Henricks
Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

At a glance

Born
July 5, 1952, Bryan (Williams County) source
Also known as
Tom Henricks, Terence T. Henricks, Terence T. "Tom" Henricks
Known as
Aviation Space, Military, Business

Terence T. Henricks is living. This page covers their public life only, from published sources. Correct this page · hello@crackedbuckeye.com

Life story

Tom Henricks was born in Bryan, Williams County, in 1952 and grew up in Woodville, Sandusky County, the son of an Ohio farmer and the first in his family to finish college. After graduating from Woodmore High School in 1970 he went to the U.S. Air Force Academy (civil engineering, 1974), flew F-4s in England and Iceland, and became an F-16 test pilot at Edwards Air Force Base. NASA selected him in 1985; he piloted STS-44 (1991) and the German Spacelab D-2 mission STS-55 (1993), then commanded STS-70 (1995), whose crew of four Ohioans and an 'honorary Ohioan' became the All-Ohio mission, and STS-78 (1996), at the time the longest shuttle flight. He was the first person to log more than 1,000 hours as a shuttle pilot and commander, and left NASA in November 1997 for business, including executive posts at The Timken Company and Textron and the presidency of Aviation Week. He is in the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame and holds an honorary doctorate from Defiance College.

Ohio ties

  • Bryan (1952)
    birthplace Williams County · source
  • Woodville (childhood-1970)
    hometown, where he was raised (Wharton describes him as the son of an Ohio farmer) Sandusky County · source
  • Elmore (Woodmore High School) (to 1970)
    graduated from Woodmore High School, the high school serving Woodville Ottawa County · source
  • Defiance (Defiance College) (1993)
    honorary Doctor of Science degree Defiance County · source
  • Ohio (statewide)
    inducted into the Ohio Veterans Hall of Fame source
  • Canton (The Timken Company) (after 1997)
    corporate executive with The Timken Company (Timken Aerospace) after leaving NASA Stark County · source
  • Cleveland (2008)
    among the Ohio astronauts gathered in Cleveland on August 29, 2008 for NASA's 50th anniversary Cuyahoga County · source

Timeline

  1. 1952 Born July 5 in Bryan, Ohio; he considers Woodville, Ohio, his hometown. source
  2. 1970 Graduated from Woodmore High School. source
  3. 1974 Graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy with a B.S. in civil engineering, then completed pilot training at Craig AFB, Alabama, and flew the F-4 with fighter squadrons in England and Iceland. source
  4. 1982 Earned a master's degree in public administration from Golden Gate University. source
  5. 1983 Attended the USAF Test Pilot School (class 83A) and stayed at Edwards AFB as an F-16C test pilot. source
  6. 1985 Selected by NASA in June with Astronaut Group 11; he became an astronaut in July 1986. source
  7. 1991 Piloted STS-44 Atlantis (November 24-December 1), which deployed a Defense Support Program satellite and landed on the Edwards lakebed. source
  8. 1993 Received an honorary Doctor of Science from Defiance College, and piloted STS-55 Columbia (April 26-May 6), the German Spacelab D-2 mission with 89 experiments. source
  9. 1995 Commanded STS-70 Discovery (July 13-22), the 'All-Ohio' mission that deployed the last Tracking and Data Relay Satellite and the first flown from the new combined control center. source
  10. 1996 Commanded STS-78 Columbia (June 20-July 7), the Life and Microgravity Spacelab mission backed by ten nations and five space agencies. source
  11. 1997 Left NASA and the Air Force in November (retired October 31, per spacefacts) after becoming the first person to log over 1,000 hours as a shuttle pilot and commander. source
  12. 2008 Joined Ohio's other astronauts, John Glenn and Neil Armstrong among them, in Cleveland on August 29 for NASA's 50th anniversary. source
  13. 2010 Left the presidency of McGraw-Hill's Aviation Week in New York. source
  14. 2015 Listed as 'Terence T. Henricks of Woodville' among Ohio's 25 astronauts in Ohio House Resolution 28. source

Stories

A farm boy who only meant to finish college

In a 2013 interview with Knowledge at Wharton, Henricks described himself as the son of an Ohio farmer and the first in his family to graduate from college. Working on the farm, his only goal had been to get through college; flying came later, through the Air Force Academy. His family reached Houston about six months before the Challenger accident in January 1986, and he said his children saw how worried his own parents were. After four flights in about a decade he decided he had had his fair share of spaceflight, talked it over with his children at the kitchen table, and left NASA in 1997 even though it meant moving the family again.

Source

Commander of the All-Ohio crew

When the STS-70 crew was assigned, four of its five members had grown up in Ohio: Henricks of Woodville, Nancy Currie of Troy, and Clevelanders Don Thomas and Mary Ellen Weber. Thomas contacted Governor George Voinovich, who issued a proclamation making the pilot, Kevin Kregel of Amityville, New York, an 'Honorary Ohioan', creating 'The All-Ohio Space Shuttle Mission.' A week before the planned June 1995 launch, flicker woodpeckers pecked holes in the foam insulation of Discovery's external tank and the shuttle was rolled back for repairs; the crew posed with a predator-eye balloon meant to scare birds away. Henricks finally commanded the launch on July 13, 1995, and six hours into the flight the crew deployed the last Tracking and Data Relay Satellite.

Source

Sites to know

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

1234

Ohio places

Where Terence T. Henricks was born, lived, worked and is remembered, with the ZIP code, town and county pages for each.

Myths and corrections

Things often said about Terence T. Henricks, and what the record shows.

Often said STS-78, which Henricks commanded, was the longest space shuttle mission (as his NASA biography says).

The record It was the longest when it landed on July 7, 1996, but STS-80 broke the record by about 19 hours later the same year. source

Often said Henricks was born near Toledo (Don Thomas's STS-70 page).

The record NASA gives his birthplace as Bryan in Williams County, in Ohio's far northwest corner; Woodville, his hometown, is the place near Toledo. source

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.

  • STS-44 Pilot Terence T. Henricks (foreground) "rows" on the modified treadmill device used by crewmembers for biomedical
    STS-44 Pilot Terence T. Henricks (foreground) "rows" on the modified treadmill device used by crewmembers for ...
    Public domain
  • STS044-05-023 (24 Nov-1 Dec 1991) --- Astronaut F. Story Musgrave (left), Mission Specialist, assists Astronaut Terence
    STS044-05-023 (24 Nov-1 Dec 1991) --- Astronaut F. Story Musgrave (left), Mission Specialist, assists Astronau...
    Public domain
  • Working in the shirt-sleeve research environment of the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module, STS-55 Pilot Terence
    Working in the shirt-sleeve research environment of the Spacelab Deutsche 2 (SL-D2) science module, STS-55 Pil...
    Public domain
  • The STS-70 astronauts enjoy an early morning breakfast in the Operations and Checkout building, prior to suiting up and
    The STS-70 astronauts enjoy an early morning breakfast in the Operations and Checkout building, prior to suiti...
    Public domain
  • Enjoying breakfast in the Operations and Checkout Building are the seven crew members assigned to Space Shuttle Mission
    Enjoying breakfast in the Operations and Checkout Building are the seven crew members assigned to Space Shuttl...
    Public domain
  • NASA STS-55 photos
    NASA STS-55 photos
    Public domain
  • STS-55 Spacelab D-2 (SL D-2) Crew Members at KSC and at JSC Training The seven prime flight crewmembers and two alternat
    STS-55 Spacelab D-2 (SL D-2) Crew Members at KSC and at JSC Training The seven prime flight crewmembers and tw...
    Public domain
  • Announced 1985. Group of 13 astronauts. Includes current NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana
    Announced 1985. Group of 13 astronauts. Includes current NASA Associate Administrator Bob Cabana
    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
  • The STS-44 crew portrait includes 6 astronauts. Pictured seated, from left to right, are Terence T. Hendricks, pilot; Fr
    The STS-44 crew portrait includes 6 astronauts. Pictured seated, from left to right, are Terence T. Hendricks,...
    Public domain
  • The seven astronauts included in the STS-55 crew portrait are: (front left to right) Terence (Tom) Henricks, pilot; Stev
    The seven astronauts included in the STS-55 crew portrait are: (front left to right) Terence (Tom) Henricks, p...
    Public domain
  • The crew assigned to the STS-70 mission included (front left to right) Kevin R. Kregel, pilot; Nancy J. Currie, mission
    The crew assigned to the STS-70 mission included (front left to right) Kevin R. Kregel, pilot; Nancy J. Currie...
    Public domain

Sources

Confidence. High: the main facts were confirmed in sources we opened.

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

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