He entered the USAF Manned Spaceflight Engineer program in 1982, and was scheduled to fly on mission STS-71-B in December 1986, but the mission was cancelled after the Challenger Disaster in January 1986.
Han gik ind i Manned Spaceflight Engineer-programmet i 1982, og skulle have været om bord på STS-71-B i december 1986, men missionen blev aflyst efter Challenger-ulykken i januar 1986.