Robert L. Crippen Robert L. Crippen piloted the first Space Shuttle flight in 1981 and commanded three other shuttle missions in the next 3 1/2 years. In the early 1990s he served as director of NASA's Kennedy Space Center. Crippen was born in Beaumont, Tex. , and received a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas in 1960. After graduation he attended the Navy's Aviation Officer Program at Pensacola, Fla. astronautscholarship.org