DURHAM, N.H. — Lt. Col. Scott “Kidd” Poteet ’96 will be rocketing into space as a part of the first Polaris Dawn mission. The University of New Hampshire alum, and three fellow astronauts, will head closer to the moon than anyone has been since NASA’s Apollo missions in the 1970’s.

The Durham native will be a part of the milestone mission, expected to launch on Monday, August 26, that will include testing a next generation spacesuit during the first commercial spacewalk; achieving the highest altitude of any human spaceflight mission since the Apollo program; and testing a new laser-based satellite communication system. 

“I’m so excited and I’m really looking forward to the journey,” said Poteet. “This is the pinnacle of my flying career and I’m so thankful for the opportunity to head into space.”

Retired after a successful two decades in the U.S. Air Force, Poteet has patrolled the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, flown combat missions over Afghanistan, Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq and even soared with the Thunderbirds, the Air Force’s elite precision team. 

Poteet found his love for flying at UNH when he went on a refueling flight in a KC-135 tanker while a part of UNH’s Air Force ROTC. He admits that he got horribly sick on the flight but when he saw the F-16 being refueled, he was hooked. 

He credits that experience as well as lessons learned in UNH’s outdoor education program, being a part of the cross-country track team and his participation in UNH’s ROTC program for setting him on a path and shaping his future.

“I never dreamed of being an astronaut but through those programs we learned to push ourselves in various environments, learning to work as a team and trying different experiences,” said Poteet. “UNH taught me to embrace challenges.”

The four-member Polaris Dawn team is expected to be in space for five days. During that time the astronauts will participate in a wide range of activities from health research experiments to help advance both human health on Earth and during future spaceflights, to on-orbit reading of a children’s book, Kisses from Space, written by a crewmember.

VIDEO and PHOTOS AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD:

Poteet UNH video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndc5b0GYFOk

Poteet photos: https://www.flickr.com/photos/polarisprogramphotos/

Poteet B-roll: Video footage available here

About UNH
The University of New Hampshire inspires innovation and transforms lives in our state, nation and world. More than 16,000 students from 50 states and 87 countries engage with an award-winning faculty in top-ranked programs in business, engineering, law, health and human services, liberal arts and the sciences across more than 200 programs of study. A Carnegie Classification R1 institution, UNH partners with NASA, NOAA, NSF, and NIH, and received over $210 million in competitive external funding in FY23 to further explore and define the frontiers of land, sea and space.