Selected by NASA in December 1994 , Sturckow reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 1995 . He completed a year of training and evaluation and was assigned to work technical issues for the Vehicle Systems and Operations Branch of the Astronaut Office . He served as pilot on STS-88 in 1998 ( the first International Space Station assembly mission ) , and on STS-105 in 2001 . Sturckow was the commander of the STS-117 mission in 2007 , and of the STS-128 mission launched on August 28 , 2009 . Sturckow was also the launch CAPCOM for STS-130 in February 2010 , and for STS-131 in April 2010 . On January 13 , 2011 , NASA named Sturckow as the backup commander for STS-134 . The appointment allowed the commander , Mark Kelly ( who subsequently flew the mission ) , to continue to support his wife , U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords , while she recovered from an attempted assassination
attempted assassination
2011 Tucson shooting
Frederick W. Sturckow