Terry Virts — SPARQNOW

At-a-Glance

Retired NASA Astronaut and International Space Station Commander
Colonel in the United States Air Force
Selected as a Space Shuttle pilot by NASA in 2000
Logged over 5,300 flight hours in 40 different aircraft
Earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from the United States Air Force Academy in 1989
Candidate for the U.S. Senate in Texas in the 2026 election

Biography

Terry Wayne Virts Jr. is a retired NASA astronaut and International Space Station commander. His NASA career began in 2000 when he was selected as a Space Shuttle pilot.

He served as the lead astronaut for the NASA T-38 program, a member of the Shuttle Avionics Integration Laboratory (SAIL) test crew, and a crew support astronaut for Expedition 9. Virts also acted as a Capsule Communicator (CAPCOM) and was the lead astronaut for the Space Launch System (SLS) program.