NASA astronaut Joe Frank Edwards (commander, US Navy), who received the master of science in aviation systems from UTSI in 1994, served as pilot on STS-89 (January 22–31, 1998), logging over 211 hours in space. His 1998 service was the eighth Shuttle-Mir docking mission, during which the crew transferred more than nine thousand pounds of scientific equipment, logistical hardware, and water from the Space Shuttle Endeavor to Mir. In the fifth and last exchange of a US astronaut, STS-89 delivered Andy Thomas to Mir and returned with David Wolf.