Duane Gene "Digger" Carey is a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force and a former National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronaut.
Education
He graduated from Highland Park High School in Saint Paul, Minnesota, in 1975. Received a Bachelor of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering and Mechanics, and a Master of Science degree in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1981 and 1982, respectively.
Career
He flew the A-10A Thunderbolt II during tours at England Air Force Base, Louisiana, and Suwon Air Base, Republic of of Korea. In 1991, he was selected to attend the United States. Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base, California. After graduation in 1992, he worked as an F-16 experimental test pilot and System Safety Officer at Edwards Air Force Base.
He has logged over 4,300 hours in more than 35 types of aircraft.
Carey was selected as an astronaut candidate by National Aeronautics and Space Administration in April 1996. He reported to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Center in August 1996.
Having completed two years of training and evaluation, he is qualified for flight assignment as a pilot. Initially, he was assigned technical duties in the Astronaut Office Spacecraft Systems/Operations Branch.
In 2002, he served as the pilot of Columbia on STS-109, logging over 10 days in space.
STS-109 (March 1–12, 2002). STS-109 was the fourth Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission. The crew of STS-109 successfully upgraded the Hubble Space Telescope, leaving it with a new power unit, a new camera and new solar arrays.
Carey also helped document the EVA activities with video and still images.
STS-109 orbited the Earth 165 times, and covered 3.9 million miles in over 262 hours. Carey retired from National Aeronautics and Space Administration in October 2004.