Celebrating Native American Heritage Month: Jerry Elliot High Eagle, Osage Presidential Medal of Freedom awardee

Jerry Elliott High Eagle, born in 1943 in Oklahoma City, was one of the first Native American employed at NASA.  His contributions as lead retrofire officer during the Apollo 13 disaster earned him the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Although facing racial discrimination from the professors at University of Oklahoma, he received a degree in physics, being one of the first Native Americans to achieve such an accomplishment. He joined NASA as a flight mission operations engineer in 1966.  He was Program Staff Engineer during the Apollo-Soyuz Program.

He was the only Native American in mission control during Apollo 11's successful moon landing.  He was lead Retrofire Officer during the Apollo 13.  For his work on helping bring the astronauts home safely, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Richard Nixon.

His name "High Eagle" was given to him by tribal elders when he turned 41.

Robert Overmyer, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1936

Space Shuttle astronaut Robert Overmyer, born July 14, 1936 in Lorain, Ohio, went into space twice.  He became an astronaut in 1969 and served as part of the support crews for the Apollo program, the Skylab program and the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

His first trip into space was aboard Columbia (STS-5) as pilot in November 1982. It was the first officially "operational" shuttle mission.

His second and final was aboard Challenger (STS-51-B) as commander April-May 1985.

Overmyer was testing a plane on March 22, 1996 near Duluth International Airport in Minnesota when his plane crashed. 

Cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov born 1932

Cosmonaut Nikolai Rukavishnikov, born September 18, 1932, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions, only one of which was successful. 

His first mission was aboard Soyuz 10 in April 1971 as Test Engineer.  The Soyuz crew tried to dock with Salyut 1, but failed.  They returned two days later.

His second mission was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz 16 in December 1974.  It was a test flight for the Apollo-Soyuz mission the following year.  The mission was successful and the crew returned after almost 6 days in space.

His third and final mission was as Commander aboard Soyuz 33 in April 1979.  They attempted to dock with Salyut 6 but an engine failure forced the mission to be aborted.  They returned to Earth after less than two days.

He passed away of a heart attack in October 2002.

Soyuz 18 launched 1975

Soyuz 18 crew

Mission patch

Soyuz 18, launched May 24, 1975, was the second and last mission to Salyut 4.  Its crew, Commander Pyotr Klimuk and Flight Engineer Vitali Sevastyanov, set a record of 63 days in space.  It was also the second time seven people were in space (7) simultaneously.

Soyuz 18 mission took place during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, hence all the people in space.  The crew were controlled from an Crimean Control Center, not used since Soyuz 12.

By the end of the mission, the environment aboard the station was deteriorating, windows fogging over and green mold growing on the walls.

Happy birthday, Apollo and Space Shuttle astronaut Vance Brand!

Vance D. Brand, born May 9, 1931 in Longmont, Colorado, is a former NASA astronaut, who flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project and three Space Shuttle missions.

In July 1975, he was Command Module Pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project with Tom Stafford and Deke Slayton, the first joint mission between the U.S. and the Soviet Union. 

In November 1982, he served as Commander aboard Columbia (STS-5), the first mission to deploy satellites.

His third  trip into space was Commander aboard Challenger (STS-41-B) in February 1984. which featured the first untethered spacewalk  by Bruce McCandless.

His fourth and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-35) in December 1990.  At the time he  was the oldest person to go into space at 59.

Don 'Deke' Slayton, Apollo-Soyuz astronaut, born 1924

Donald "Deke" Slayton, born March 1, 1924 in Sparta Wisconsin, flew on the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in July 1975.  NASA selected him as one of the original Mercury Seven astronauts and was scheduled to pilot the second manned orbital spaceflight in 1962 but did not due to atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rhythm.

After getting medical clearance in March 1972, he was assigned as the docking module pilot for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, the first joint U.S.-Soviet space flight, with Tom Stafford and Vance Brand.  They joined cosmonauts Alexey Leonov and Valeri Kubasov on board the Soyuz craft.

Slayton did not fly in space again but became head of NASA's Approach and Landing Test for the space shuttle program.  He retired from NASA in 1980.

He passed away in June 1993 from a malignant brain tumor.

Soyuz 16 launched 1974

Crew photo

Mission patch

Soyuz 16, launched December 2, 1974, was the Soviets final test flight before the historic Apollo-Soyuz collaboration in 1975.  Her crew was Commander Anatoly Filipchenko and Flight Engineer Nikolai Rukavishnikov

They tested a docking ring and other systems that would be used during the hook-up.

They returned to Earth December 8.

Happy birthday, Oklahoma astronaut Tom Stafford!

Thomas "Tom" Stafford, born September 17, 1930 in Weatherford, Oklahoma, is an astronaut who has flown in two Gemini missions, Apollo 10 and an Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.  He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland before being accepted by NASA to be an astronaut September 17, 1962.

What a birthday present!

In December 1965, he piloted Gemini VI which performed the first rendezvous in space with Wally Schirra.  Less than six months later, he commanded Gemini IX with Eugene Cernan in  June 1966.

He commanded Apollo 10 in May 1969 with Eugene Cernan and John Young to the moon.  It was considered a 'dry run' for the first lunar landing.

In 1975, he commanded the Apollo spaceship with Vance Brand and Deke Slayton the first rendezvous with the Soviet Soyuz, a milestone in space history.