Charles F. Bolden

Charles F. Bolden commanded STS-60, the first mission of the new cooperative effort between the United States and Russia. As part of this historic partnership, Bolden's crew included the first Russian cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev, to fly aboard a U.S. space shuttle.

As part of the agreement, crew members conducted joint U.S.-Russian investigations while aboard Discovery. Also, during STS-60 the shuttle astronauts were briefly "connected" with the three cosmonauts onboard the MIR space station via a live bi-directional audio and downlink video hookup for a major U.S. television broadcasting network program.

Bolden became an astronaut in 1981. In addition to STS-60, Bolden commanded STS-45 and piloted both STS-61C and STS-31. Prior to his career at NASA, he served in the United States Marine Corps as a naval aviator, flying more than 100 sorties into North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. He earned a Bachelor of Science in electrical science from the United States Naval Academy, and a Master of Science in systems management from the University of Southern California.

Related Links:
NASA Biography: Charles Bolden

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