Robert Lee "Hoot" Gibson is a former American naval officer and aviator, test pilot, and aeronautical engineer. He was selected as an Astronaut by NASA in 1978 and flew five missions, including the ground-breaking docking mission with the Russian MIR space station. All that said, his crowning achievement may very well be serving as NASA’s Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1992 to 1994, one of only four individuals in history to have held the position at the time. However, Hoot’s story extends well beyond space as a professional pilot, a Reno Air Racer and aircraft experimenter working with so many other legends including the late, great Bruce Bohannon. Hoot was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2003 and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2013, and has received several military decorations throughout his career.

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