He piloted the first flight of the space shuttle Endeavour in May 1992, carrying out repairs to the International Telecommunications Satellite. He also flew the Endeavour's mission of April 1994 that carried the Space Radar Laboratory. In March 1996, Chilton commanded the Atlantis mission that docked with the Russian space station Mir. He logged 704 hours in space before leaving NASA in 1998 to become the US deputy director for political military affairs for Asia, the Pacific, and the Middle East. He was selected as an astronaut in 1987.