WKRN, Nashville, Tennessee News, Weather, and Sports |Mt. Juliet native to pilot space shuttle Atlantis

Mt. Juliet native to pilot space shuttle Atlantis

MT. JULIET, Tenn. – A Mt. Juliet native will pilot the space shuttle Atlantis' upcoming mission to the International Space Station.

Barry Wilmore moved to Mt. Juliet when he was eight years old and grew up in the Wilson County town with his brother and parents, Eugene and Fay Wilmore.

His mother says when her son was young he would sometimes disappear, but she always knew where to find him.

"In the tallest tree," said Faye Wilmore.  "He would be sitting with his little head sticking out.  Now that frightened me.  [He wanted to get] just as close to the sky as he could."

The Wilmore’s say Barry loved woodworking and even built the steps going up to the gazebo and rock around the pool when he was 16 years old

They say they are proud of their son, but a little nervous about his upcoming voyage.

"We are apprehensive, anything could happen but we have confidence and faith in our lord, our savior Jesus Christ that everything will be fine," said Eugene Wilmore.

At Mt. Juliet High School, Barry excelled in sports, especially football.

Jerry Kirby, his former coach, said he was a tremendous player, competitive and hard working.

"He was so popular.  His teammates voted his captain his senior year," Kirby recalled.  "Barry was just an overachiever and I never heard anybody say anything bad about him as far as coaches go.  You could always depend on him."

As graduation loomed, Barry knew he wanted to go to Tennessee Tech but was concerned about getting a "walk-on" scholarship.

Coach Kirby encouraged him to try.

"He walked on and wound up getting a full scholarship and led the OVC his senior year in tackles," said the coach.

Barry went on to obtain a degree from Tennessee Tech in electrical engineering

"Looking back those were the hardest years of my life because the good lord didn’t give me a brain that could grasp things immediately.  I had to study and I had to study hard and looking back I was either studying or on the football field.  There wasn't a whole lot of time in between," he said.

"As a kid, I was passionate about watching the space program but now to be able to work in it with these people we are a team and we are doing great things and I am proud of each one of them I truly am," Wilmore continued.

Wilmore will pilot the 11-day mission to deliver spare parts platforms, which will be installed to sustain future station operations.

The flight will launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday.