Endeavour (STS-89) launched 1998

STS-89 crew:

Front row (L-R): Joe Edwards, Terrence Wilcutt, Bonnie Dunbar

Back row (L-R): David Wolf, Salizhan Sharipov, James Reilly, Andy Thomas, Michael Anderson

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-89) was launched January 22, 1998 to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Terrence Wilcutt, Pilot Joe Edwards, James Reilly, Michael Anderson, Bonnie Dunbar, Salizhan Sharipov (Roscosmos) and Andy Thomas. 

Endeavour carried Andy Thomas to Mir and brought David Wolf back.  Both were part of expedition Mir EO-24.  The crew returned to Earth January 31.

Discovery (STS-102) launched 2001

Crew of STS-102 

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-102), launched March 8, 2001, was a resupply mission to the International Space Station.  It also rotated the Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews to ISS.  The crew that launched and then returned March 21 consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot James Kelly, mission specialist Andy Thomas and mission specialist Paul Richards.

They carried the members of Expedition 2 to the station, who were Yury Usachov, James Voss and Susan Helms.  Expedition 1, which consisted of William Shepherd, Yuri Gidzenko, and Sergei Krikalev.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Andy Thomas!

Andrew Sydney Withiel Thomas, born December 18, 1951, is the first Australian-born professional astronaut in space.  Fellow countryman Paul Scully-Power was the first Aussie in space but he was an oceanographer.  Thomas has flown on 5 shuttle missions, including time spent on Mir.

His first mission was on Endeavour (STS-77) May 1996 as a Mission Specialist. On January 23, 1998, he took off on Endeavour (STS-89) and transferred to the Mir spacecraft where he spent four months.  He returned to Earth in May aboard Discovery (STS-91).

In March 2001, he flew on Discovery (STS-102) to the International Space Station for resupplying and rotating Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews. 

His fifth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-114) for NASA's "Return to Flight" mission July-August 2005.  It was the first space shuttle mission following the Columbia disaster.

Thomas retired from NASA in February 2014.