Michael Lloyd Coats was born on 16 January 1946, in Sacramento, California, USA, and is a former NASA astronaut, and the former director of the Johnson Space Center located in Houston, Texas; he worked as an astronaut from 1979 to 1991, but all of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Mike Coats? As of late-2017, sources estimate a net worth that is at $500,000, mostly earned through success as an astronaut. He flew in three spaceflights during his career, and was also a part of numerous flight missions as part of the US Navy. He also worked in the private sector, and all of these achievements ensured the position of his wealth.
Mike Coats Net Worth $500,000
Mike attended Ramona High School and matriculated in 1964. Afterwards, he attended the United States Naval Academy graduating with a Bachelor of Science Degree, after which he then attended George Washington University to get his Masters degree in Administration of Science and Technology, and later obtained a Masters degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the US Naval Postgraduate School.
Coats was designated a Naval Aviator after graduating from the US Naval Academy and trained to become an A-7E pilot. In 1970, he was assigned to be a part of the Attack Squadron of the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk, and flew 315 combat missions in Southeast Asia, followed by which he would become a flight instructor at Naval Air Station Lemoore. In 1974, he participated in test pilot training on both the A-7 and A-4 aircraft. Two years later, he would return to become a flight instructor, and would eventually be selected for the astronaut candidate program. His net worth increased thanks to these numerous opportunities.
Mike would become a NASA astronaut in 1979 and would join the STS-4 as an astronaut support crew, and also became a capsule communicator for two other flights. He made his first mission as the pilot of the crew STS-41-D which launched from the Kennedy Space Center in 1984, after two delays due to a first pad abort and a fire on the launch pad. Eventually, the crew would go on a six day mission to deploy three satellites, and conduct several experiments. They also completed 96 orbits of the Earth before successfully landing at Edwards Air Force Base. His next mission would come in 1989 as the commander of the STS-29. They had a five day mission to conduct various secondary experiments, and to deployed a Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS). The crew also took over 3,000 photographs of the earth, with Mike logging in a total of 264 hours in space. His final space mission would be as the commander of the STS-39 which deployed, operated and retrieved the SPAS-II spacecraft. They also conducted experiments regarding the Earth’s Atmosphere. He completed 131 orbits of the Earth during this mission.
Coats eventually left the astronaut corps and retired from the US Navy in 1991 with the rank of Captain. His net worth had increased significantly thanks to his work as an astronaut. He then worked for Loral Space Information Systems, and served as the Vice President of Avionics and Communications Operations from 1991 to 1996. He subsequently became the Vice President of Civil Space Programs, working as a part of Lockheed Martin Missiles for the next two years. In 1998, he was promoted to become Vice President of Advanced Space Transportation in which position he served until 2005. He then returned to NASA to become the 10th director of the Johnson Space Center (JSC), serving until retiring in 2012.
For his personal life, it is known that Michael is married Diane Carson, and they have two children.
