Scott “Scooter” Altman is a retired Navy Captain who flew in space four times. He commanded two of those missions, the fourth and the fifth (and final) missions to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

Altman was born on August 15, 1959, in Lincoln, IL receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering from the University of Illinois in May 1981. He subsequently earned a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School in June 1990.

An accomplished fighter pilot, he earned his Navy wings of gold in February 1983. Along with numerous other honors, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Navy Commendation Medal and was the award winner for outstanding achievement in Tactical Aviation, selected by the Association of Naval Aviation. Altman is also known for his aerial acrobatic flights in the movie Top Gun.

Following his commission as an Ensign in the Navy in August 1981, he completed two cruises flying the F-14A Tomcat before being selected for Navy Test Pilot School, graduating in June 1990. Following his return from a deployment as a strike leader flying over Southern Iraq, has was selected for the NASA astronaut program in 1995.

In 1998, he served as pilot on Columbia during STS-90, the Neurolab mission, which studied the effects of microgravity on the brain and human nervous system. Two years later, in 2000, he piloted Atlantis on a 12-day mission to prepare the International Space Station for the arrival of the first permanent crew. His final two missions saw Altman command Columbia in 2002 on the fourth mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope and then command Atlantis on STS-125, the fifth and final mission to service the telescope and extend its useful lifetime.

In total, Altman spent more than 51 days in space over his four missions before retiring from NASA in 2010 to join the ASRC Federal family of companies.