Happy birthday, astronaut Brian Duffy!

Brian Duffy, born June 20, 1953 in Boston, Massachusetts, has been in space four times. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1975 and was selected by NASA to become an astronaut in June 1985.

His first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as pilot in March-April 1992.  He spent almost 9 days in space before returning to Earth. 

His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-57) as pilot in June-July 1993. He spent 10 days in space before returning to Earth. 

Duffy's third mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-72) as commander January 11-20, 1996. He spent almost 9 days in space before returning to Earth.

His fourth and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-92) as commander to the International Space Station October 11-24, 2000. He spent 13 days in space before returning to Earth.

Duffy was inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame May 14, 2016.

Atlantis (STS-45) launched 1992

Seated (L-R): Brian Duffy, Charles Bolden; 

Standing (L-R): Byron Lichtenberg, Michael Foale, David Leestma, Kathryn Sullivan, Dirk Frimout

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-45), launched March 24, 1992, was the 11th flight of Atlantis.  Its crew consisted of Commander Charles Bolden, Pilot Brian Duffy, Mission Specialist Kathryn Sullivan, Mission Specialist David Leestma, Mission Specialist Michael Foale, Payload Specialist Dirk Frimout (first Belgian in space), and Payload Specialist Byron Lichtenberg. 

During the mission, the crew carried out many scientific experiments.  The original mission was extended for a day so the crew could conduct more experiments.

They returned to Earth April 2.

STS-72 launched 1996

Left to right - Seated: Brent Jett, Brian Duffy; 

Standing: Winston Scott, Leroy Chiao, Koichi Wakata, Daniel Barry

 Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted off January 11, 1996 on its tenth mission (STS-72).  Its primary mission was to capture a Japanese microgravity research satellite and return it to Earth.  

Endeavour's crew consisted of Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Brent Jett, Mission Specialist Leroy Chiao, Mission Specialist Winston Scott, Mission Specialist Koichi Wakata (JAXA) and Mission Specialist Daniel Barry.

Wakata operated the remote manipulator system arm on the shuttle to capture the satellite.

On the seventh day of the flight, Scott climbed into the payload bay and Endeavour was maneuvered into a position where he would be exposed to the extreme cold of space (-104 °F) to test how his spacesuit would protect him.

Discovery, 100th Space Shuttle mission, launched 2000

Front row (L-R): Melroy, Duffy; 

Back row (L-R): Chiao, Lopez-Alegria, McArthur, Wisoff, Wakata

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off October 11, 2000 on the 100th mission (STS-92) of the space shuttle program.  Seven astronauts docked with the International Space Station for seven days and performed 4 EVAs.

Discovery's crew consisted of Commander Brian Duffy, Pilot Pamela Melroy (remember her? She was the one who had Alan Parsons Project's Prime Time as her wake up call!), Mission Specialist 1 Koichi Wakata (remember him?  He would be the first Japanese commander of the ISS!), Mission Specialist 2 William McArthur, Mission Specialist 3 Peter Wisoff, Mission Specialist 4 Michael Lopez-Alegria (remember him? He's the first Spanish-born astronaut in space!), and Mission Specialist 5 Leroy Chiao (remember him?  He's the one who saw UFO lights during an EVA!).

Space Shuttle Endeavor (STS-57) 1993

Front row (L-R) Pilot Brian Duffy, Commander Ronald J. Grabe

Back row (L-R): Mission Specialist 3 Peter J. Wisoff, Mission Specialist 2 Nancy J. Sherlock, Mission Specialist 4 Janice E. Voss, and Mission Specialist 1 G. David Low

Space Shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Kennedy Space Center June 21, 1993.  The 10-day mission involved six astronauts, numerous biomedical and materials science experiments, one EVA, five stars (insignia), one satellite retrieval, one to two inches increase in height (due to spine lengthening in space) and about 4.1 million miles.

Pretty routine stuff, but in space, they don't much care for the non-routine stuff.