{{Short description|American fighter pilot and private astronaut (born 1973)}} {{More citations needed|date=August 2024}} {{Use mdy dates|date=February 2022}} {{Infobox person | image = Academy officer picked for top triathlon (cropped).jpg | caption = Poteet in 2010 | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1973|12|07}} | birth_place = Chattanooga, Tennessee, U.S.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Private Astronauts Biography:Scott Poteet |url=http://spacefacts.de/bios/tourists/english/poteet_scott.htm |access-date=2024-08-12 |website=spacefacts.de}}</ref> | education = {{ubl | University of New Hampshire (BS) | University of Colorado Colorado Springs (MA) }} | module = {{Infobox military person | embed = yes | nickname = "Kidd", "Martian Man" | allegiance = {{flag|United States}} | branch = {{flag|United States Air Force}} | branch_label = Branch | service_years = 1998–2016 | rank = Lieutenant colonel | battles = {{Unbulleted list | ''Northern Watch'' | ''Southern Watch'' | ''Joint Guardian'' | ''Freedom's Sentinel'' | ''Resolute Support'' }} | battles_label = Combat operations }} | module2 = {{Infobox astronaut | child = yes | type = Commercial astronaut | space_time = 4 days, 22 hours, 13 minutes | missions = Polaris Dawn }} }}
'''Scott''' "'''Kidd'''" '''Poteet''' (born December 7, 1973) is an American retired pilot from the United States Air Force. He was the pilot of the Polaris Dawn mission in 2024, a privately funded human spaceflight operated by SpaceX for Jared Isaacman. Lives in Stratham, NH.
==Early life == He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Outdoor education at the University of New Hampshire and later attended the Air Command and Staff College and<!-- he was educated and graduated for air force only so used word training--> earned a Master's degree in counseling and leadership from University of Colorado Colorado Springs in a program jointly operated with the Air Force Academy.
==Career== <!-- he was educated and graduated for air force only so used word training--> Scott Poteet is a retired United States Air Force lieutenant colonel who served 18 years in a variety of roles including commanding officer of the 64th Aggressor Squadron, pilot in the USAF Thunderbirds (Position 4), test and evaluation pilot, and commercial pilot. Poteet has over 3,200 flight hours on the F-16, A-4, T-38, T-37, T-3 and Alpha Jet. He logged over 400 combat hours during Operations ''Northern Watch'', ''Southern Watch'', ''Joint Guardian'', ''Freedom's Sentinel'', and ''Resolute Support''.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Two Years of Flying High|url=http://unhmagazine.unh.edu/w09/flying.html|access-date=2022-02-16|website=unhmagazine.unh.edu}}</ref>
After retiring from the Air Force, Poteet worked as a director of business development at Draken International from 2016 to 2020 and then as the vice president of strategy at Shift4 from 2020 to 2022, under CEO Jared Isaacman. During his time at Shift4, Poteet also trained then served as the mission director of Inspiration4, the first all-civilian human spaceflight mission led by Isaacman as commander.
In 2022, Poteet was selected to serve as the spacecraft pilot of the Polaris Dawn mission, which flew in September 2024. During the flight Poteet was the backup to Isaacman, the mission commander, who successfully completed the first commercial spacewalk.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Jared Isaacman, who led the first all-private astronaut mission to orbit, has commissioned 3 more flights from SpaceX |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/02/14/jared-isaacman-polaris-spacex-starship-inspiration4/ |access-date=2022-02-16 |newspaper=Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}</ref>
==Personal life== [[File:Scott Poteet at 2010 Ironman World Championship (crop).jpg|thumb|Scott Poteet at 2010 Ironman World Championship]] Poteet and his wife Kristen have two daughters and one son. He is a runner and triathlete, competing in 15 Ironman triathlons since 2000, including four Ironman World Championships in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii.<ref>{{Cite web|title='I am Ironman': Academy AOC picked for top triathlon > United States Air Force Academy > News Display|url=https://www.usafa.af.mil/News/News-Display/Article/428851/i-am-ironman-academy-aoc-picked-for-top-triathlon/|access-date=2022-02-16|website=United States Air Force Academy|language=en-US}}</ref>
==Media coverage== He appears as a mission director in the 2021 docuseries ''Countdown: Inspiration4 Mission to Space''.
== References == {{Reflist}}
== See also == * Polaris program
{{DEFAULTSORT:Poteet, Scott}} Category:Living people Category:American astronauts Category:Commercial astronauts Category:SpaceX astronauts Category:Inspiration4 Category:1973 births