"Neon Knight" wrote:

So, in general, it seems that before becoming shuttle commander, an
astronaut must first fly as pilot. Is there a "minimum" amount of
flights one must make as pilot before being promoted to commander?

No, it depends on a lot of factors such as number of missions on the
schedule, number of CDR-qualified astronauts available, number of unflown
pilot astronauts, etc.

Of the ex-MOL astronauts (Group 7) and the first shuttle group (Group 8)
almost all flew as CDR after a single mission as PLT. Of the Group 9 pilots
only two flew as CDR after a single PLT flight. All of Group 10 (except
Hammond) got a command after a single flight.

From Group 11 onwards it became "normal" to serve as PLT for two missions,
but there have been exceptions - Curt Brown, Rominger, Horowitz (3).

Rick Husband (Group 15) was assigned to command STS-107 after a single flight
as Pilot.

--

Brian Lawrence

Wantage, Oxfordshire, UK