McCOOL

U.S. Navy Cdr. William C. McCool, 41, was on his first space shuttle mission, as the pilot. A native of San Diego and the son of a Navy/Marine veteran, he was second in his class at the U.S. Naval Academy, where he received a bachelor's degree in applied science. He also held master's degrees in computer sciences from the University of Maryland and in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School. He was an EA-6B pilot, TA-4J and EA-6B test pilot. His assignments included the advanced capability program for the EA-6B. He logged more than 2,800 flight hours on 24 different aircraft and had 400 carrier arrestments. He was selected as a NASA astronaut in April 1996. Prior to STS-107, he worked shuttle cockpit upgrade issues and assisted in flight crew operations. He was married with three sons.

  USAF Col. Rick Douglas Husband
  Col. Ilan Ramon
  Mission specialist Kalpana Chawla
  Capt. David M. Brown
  U.S. Navy Cdr. William C. McCool
  Lt. Col. Michael P. Anderson
  U.S. Navy Capt. (select) Laurel Blair Salton Clark

Special Report: Columbia Investigation