Dutton is a member of the U.S. Air Force Academy Class of 1991. During this period he was a member of the intercollegiate Cadet Competition Flying Team.[3] Dutton's pilot training was at Sheppard AFB, Texas.
After retiring from the US Air Force in 2014 as a Colonel, Dutton has over 3,300 flight hours in over 30 different aircraft.[2]
NASA career
Dutton was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in May 2004 and received his astronaut pin (qualification) on February 10, 2006, with his classmate of the Group 19th. Dutton was initially assigned to the Exploration Branch working on the development of the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), latter named Orion. He served as Ascent and Entry CAPCOM for Space Shuttle mission STS-122 and STS-123.[3]
Dutton was officially assigned to his first space flight as pilot for STS-131 in December 2008.[4]
After his flight, he served as Deputy Chief, Astronaut Office Shuttle Branch from August 2010 to August 2011 and then Chief of Astronaut Office Exploration Branch from August 2011 until his retirement from NASA in June 2012.
He assisted Poindexter during rendezvous and landing and maneuver the orbiter during undocking and the fly-around. In addition, he served as lead shuttle robotic arm operator for the mission, responsible for airlock operations in preparation for EVAs and he assisted Wilson with the station robotic arm operations.[8] The STS-131 mission was accomplished in 15 days, 2 hours, 47 minutes and 10 seconds and traveled 6,232,235 statute miles in 238 orbits.[6]
Post NASA and Air Force career
After his retirement for the Air Force, he became an airline pilot with Southwest Airlines.[9] In June 2020, Dutton joined Dynetics, Inc. as a technical advisor on their design for NASA's Human Landing System (HLS) supporting the Artemis program.[10]
Family and interests
Dutton is married to the former Erin Ruhoff, also from Eugene, and they have four boys. They currently live in Colorado Springs, Colorado[11]