Frank Lee Culbertson Jr. ( born May 15 , 1949 ) ( Capt , USN , Ret . ) is an American former naval officer and aviator , test pilot , aerospace engineer , and NASA astronaut . He served as the Commander of the International Space Station for almost four months in 2001 and was the only American not on Earth when the September 11 attacks occurred . He recently retired as President of the Space Systems Group at Northrop Grumman Innovation Systems . Mr. Culbertson was responsible for the execution , business development and financial performance of the company 's human spaceflight , science , commercial communications , and national security satellite activities , as well as technical services to various government customers . These include some of Northrop Grumman 's largest and most important programs such as NASA 's Commercial Resupply Services ( CRS ) initiatives to the International Space Station ( ISS ) as well as various national security-related programs
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Frank L. Culbertson Jr.