Gary Payton (astronaut), Date of Birth, Place of Birth

Gary Payton (astronaut)

American astronaut

Date of Birth: 20-Jun-1948

Place of Birth: Rock Island, Illinois, United States

Profession: astronaut, military officer, aircraft pilot

Nationality: United States

Zodiac Sign: Gemini

Colonel Gary Eugene Payton, USAF, (born June 20, 1948) is an American astronaut and USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer. Payton flew on the STS-51-C mission aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery in January 1985 which launched and returned to land at the Kennedy Space Center, in Florida.
STS-51C was the first dedicated Space Shuttle Department of Defense mission.
Payton traveled over 1.2 million miles in 48 Earth orbits, and logged more than 73 hours in space.He is currently Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Schriever Chair in Astronautics at the United States Air Force Academy, teaching Astronautical Engineering.