Happy birthday, Canadian astronaut Dafydd Williams!

Dafydd Williams, born May 16, 1954 in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, has been in space twice as an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency.  He received a Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery from McGill University in 1983.

His first trip into space was aboard Columbia (STS-90) as mission specialist in April-May 1998.  While in orbit, Williams and fellow astronauts James Pawelczyk and Jay Buckey appeared on the Canadian television series Popular Mechanics for Kids.

His second and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-118) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in August 2007. He performed three EVAs with fellow astronauts Richard Mastracchio and Clayton Anderson for almost 18 hours total.

Columbia (STS-90) launched 1998

STS-90 crew

Front row (L-R): Scott Altman, Richard Searfoss

Last row (L-R): James Pawelczyk, Richard Linnehan, Kathryn Hire, Davydd Williams, Jay Buckey

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-90), launched April 17, 1998, was the final flight of the European Space Agency's Spacelab laboratory module.  Its crew consisted of Commander Richard Searfoss, Pilot Scott Altman, Dafydd Williams (CSA), Kathryn Hire, Richard Linnehan, Jay Buckey and James Pawelczyk.

The mission continued the exploration of the effects of microgravity on the human nervous system.  The crew returned to Earth on May 3.

Endeavour (STS-118) launched 2007

STS-118 crew (L-R): Richard Mastracchio, Barbara Morgan, Charles Hobaugh, Scott Kelly,  Tracy Caldwell, Dafydd Williams, Alvin Drew.

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-118), launched August 8, 2007 to the International Space Station, was the first flight of Endeavour since the Columbia disaster in 2003.  Its crew consisted of Commander Scott Kelly, Pilot Charles Hobaugh, Tracy Caldwell, Richard Mastracchio, Dafydd Williams, Barbara Morgan and Alvin Drew.

Barbara Morgan had trained as a backup to Christa McAuliffe as NASA's Teacher in Space, but that ended with the Challenger disaster.  However, when Morgan flew on STS-118, she was not considered a Mission Specialist Educator, but rather a Mission Specialist who had once been a teacher.  During the mission, she spoke to school children on Earth.

Four EVAs were conducted by Rick Mastracchio, Dafydd Williams and Clayton Anderson, who had arrived on the ISS with STS-117. 

They returned to Earth August 21.