Richard H. Truly (born November 12, 1937) is a retired Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, former astronaut, and was the 8th Administrator of NASA from 1989 to 1992. He was the first former astronaut to head the space agency.

Born in Fayette, Mississippi, Truly attended schools in Fayette and Meridian, Mississippi, receiving a bachelor of aeronautical engineering degree from Georgia Institute of Technology in 1959. Truly was ordered to flight school and was designated a Naval Aviator on October 7, 1960. His initial tour of duty was in Fighter Squadron 33 where he flew F-8 Crusaders aboard USS Intrepid and USS Enterprise and made more than 300 carrier landings.

From 1963 to 1965, he was first a student and later an instructor at the U.S. Air Force Aerospace Research Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. In 1965, he was among the first military astronauts selected to the USAF Manned Orbiting Laboratory program in Los Angeles, California. He became an astronaut for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in August 1969. He was a member of the astronaut support crew and capsule communicator for all three of the manned Skylab missions (1973) and the Apollo-Soyuz mission (1975). Her served as pilot of STS-2 in 1981 and Commander of STS-8 in 1983.

His decorations include the Defense Distinguished Service Medal, Defense Superior Service Medal, two Legion of Merit, Navy Distinguished Flying Cross, and the Meritorious Service Award. His NASA awards include the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, two NASA Space Flight Medals, and two NASA Exceptional Service Medals.

References

• Portions of this article are based on public domain text from NASA.