Winston Elliott Scott, a former Navy Captain and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) astronaut, was born on August 6, 1950 in Miami, Florida to Alston Scott and Rubye Scott. Winston Scott graduated from Coral Gables High School in 1968 and received a B.A. degree in music from Florida State University in 1972. Eight years later he received a Masters of Science degree in aeronautical engineering with avionics at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.
In December 1972, Scott entered Naval Aviation Officer Candidate School after graduation from Florida State University. Two years later he was designated a Naval Aviator. After serving with the Navy for a decade where he flew the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet and the A-7 Corsair aircraft, Captain Scott was assigned as Deputy Director of the Tactical Aircraft System Department at the Naval Air Development Center in Warminster, Pennsylvania. Scott accumulated over 5,000 hours of flight time and more than 200 aircraft carrier landings.
In March 1992 Winston Scott was selected to participate in the Space Program. Four years later he served as a mission specialist on the STS-72 Endeavour during its nine day flight from January 11 to 20, 1996. Scott conducted two space walks to demonstrate and evaluate techniques to be used in the assembly of the International Space Station including one of 6 hours and 53 minutes.
Scott returned to space on the STS-87 Columbia on November 19, 1997 where he performed two spacewalks, the first of which lasted over 7 hours involved the manual capture of a Spartan satellite. In the second spacewalk, Scott tested tools and procedures for future space station assembly.
Winston Scott, a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, retired from NASA and the U.S. Navy in 1999 to become Vice President for Student Affairs and Associate Dean of the Florida State University College of Engineering. In July 2003 Scott became the Executive Director of the Florida Space Agency, an organization that advises the state’s governor and legislature on matters related to space and aeronautics in the state. In September 2006 Scott, became Vice President and Deputy General Manager at Jacobs Engineering in Houston, Texas.
In 2006, Winston Scott’s book, Reflections From Earth Orbit was published. The semiautobiographical book describes his experiences as a NASA astronaut.