Photo: Unknown author / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
William Oefelein was born on March 29, 1965 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States and is credited as a military officer, astronaut and aircraft pilot. William Oefelein is 61 years old as of 2026. Education on record includes West Anchorage High School and University of Tennessee. Listed accolades include Air Medal.
My Take
William Oefelein is one of those figures who became famous for entirely the wrong reasons — and honestly, I feel a little bad for the guy. He piloted the STS-116 shuttle mission in December 2006, which is a genuinely impressive achievement: a Navy test pilot turned NASA astronaut who flew one of the most complex vehicles ever built. That should be his legacy. Instead, his name is forever attached to the 2007 Lisa Nowak affair, when a fellow astronaut drove hundreds of miles in a diaper to confront his girlfriend — making international headlines that had nothing to do with anything Oefelein himself did. He seemed to handle the chaos with quiet dignity, eventually left NASA, and rebuilt his life as a freelance adventure writer and photographer in Alaska. As comebacks go, trading the shuttle for wilderness storytelling is actually pretty cool.
This take was written by generative AI, one per person, from publicly reported facts (editorial policy). It is a reading of the record, not reporting.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- William Oefelein
- Name (Japanese)
- ウィリアム・オーフェリン
- Reading
- うぃりあむ・おーふぇりん
- Born
- March 29, 1965 (age 61)
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Aries / Snake
- Origin
- Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States
- Occupation
- military officer / astronaut / aircraft pilot / engineer
2. Background
- High school
- West Anchorage High School
- University
- University of Tennessee
Awards & achievements
- Air Medal
3. Links
4. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.
Frequently asked questions
When was William Oefelein born?
Born March 29, 1965 (age 61).
Where is William Oefelein from?
William Oefelein is from Fort Belvoir, Virginia, United States.
What does William Oefelein do?
William Oefelein works as military officer, astronaut, aircraft pilot, engineer.
Military officer — see all → · Astronaut — see all → · More people from the United States →