On July 12, 2011, Wheelock announced that he would be returning to active duty with the United States Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

[3] He is currently working with NASA to test the Orion spacecraft at the Glenn Research Center in Plum Brook, Ohio.

While on active duty, Wheelock received a Master of Science degree in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech in 1992.

He worked extensively with the Energia Aerospace Company in Moscow, Russia, developing and verifying dual-language procedures for ISS crews.

Wheelock led joint U.S./Russian teams to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to oversee bench reviews, inventory, loading and launch of the first four uncrewed ISS resupply capsules.

In August 2002, Wheelock was assigned as a spacecraft communicator (CAPCOM) in the Mission Control Center in Houston, Texas.

In this role, he was the primary communication link between crews in orbit and the ground support team in the Control Center.

Wheelock was the primary liaison between Star City and NASA operations in Houston, including medical, training, science, contracting, public affairs, and administration departments.

[4] That month, he contributed to an article in The Columbus Dispatch detailing the inaccuracies of the space science fiction film Ad Astra.

Wheelock participated in three spacewalks with fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski in order to perform mission critical tasks on the exterior of the Station.

The spacewalks involved outfitting the Node 2 module, storing an S-band antenna, work on the Integrated Truss Structure, and External Stowage Platform 2.

[10] Wheelock launched to the International Space Station on June 15, 2010, aboard the Soyuz TMA-19 spacecraft with Fyodor Yurchikhin and Shannon Walker.

Wheelock and Tracy Caldwell-Dyson made three spacewalks to replace the module, during which he sustained long-term damage to his vision.

This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.