Bill Oefelein, a Virginia native raised in Alaska and 10-year naval officer, received the master’s in Aviation Systems from the University of Tennessee Space Institute in 1998. In June 1998 he was selected by NASA into the astronaut program. Following completion of two years’ training and evaluation at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, he was qualified for space flight assignment as a pilot. He served as pilot on STS-16 Discovery (December 9–22, 2006).
The seven-member crew on this mission continued construction of the International Space Station outpost. Four space walks were involved. Discovery also delivered a new crew member and more than two tons of equipment and supplies to the station. Almost two tons of items no longer needed on the station were brought back.
NASA dismissed Oefelein from the Astronaut Corps on June 1, 2007, returning him to active duty with the navy, following a widely reported incident in which one fellow astronaut (Lisa Nowack, with whom he had had an affair) drove nonstop across the country to attack another fellow astronaut, Coleen Shipman, at the Orlando airport. Shipman and Oefelein were romantically involved at the time. Nowack was charged with kidnapping after pepper spraying Shipman. Nowack was terminated by NASA one month later (March 2007) and returned to duty with the navy.