Atlantis (STS-122) launched 2008

STS-122 crew

Front row (L-R): Stephen Frick, Leopold Eyharts, Alan Poindexter

Back row (L-R): Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Stanely Love, Hans Schlegel

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-122), launched February 7, 2008, delivered the ESA's Columbus science laboratory to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Stephen Frick, Pilot Alan Poindexter, Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, Hans Schlegel (ESA), Stanley Love and Leopold Eyharts (ESA).

Walheim and Love conducted 3 EVAs during the mission, totaling 22 hours, 8 minutes.  Eyharts remained on the ISS and Daniel Tani returned with the rest of the crew February 20.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Scott Parazynski!

Scott Parazynski, born July 28, 1961 in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a veteran of five space shuttle missions and seven spacewalks.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-66) as mission specialist in November 1994.  It was the last solo flight for Atlantis until 2009.  Until then, her missions were either to Mir or the International Space Station.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) as mission specialist to Mir September-October 1997.  He performed an EVA with fellow astronaut Vladimir Titov (Roscosmos) which lasted about 5 hours.

Parazynski's third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-95) as mission specialist in October-November 1998.  John Glenn made history by going into space at 77 years old on this trip.


His fourth flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-100) as mission specialist April-May 2001 to the International Space Station.  Parazynski performed two EVAs with fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield for a total of almost 15 hours.

Scott's fifth and final flight was on Discovery (STS-120) as mission specialist October-November 2007.   He conducted four EVAs, three with Douglas Wheelock, and one with Daniel Tani, for a total of 27 hours and 14 minutes.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Linda Godwin!

Linda Godwin, born July 2, 1952 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  After getting her doctorate in physics, she joined NASA in 1980 and became an astronaut in 1986.

Her first flight was on Atlantis (STS-37) as mission specialist in April 1991.

Her second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-59) as mission specialist in April 1994.  She assisted in photographing supersites, places NASA has identified to track a variety of contributors to track climate change.  She took clear pictures of Chickasha, Oklahoma(!), one of 19 supersites.

Her third mission was on Atlantis (STS-76) in March 1996 to the space station Mir, during which she performed the first U.S. spacewalk around two docked spacecraft with fellow astronaut Michael Clifford.

Her fourth and final mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-108) in December 2001.  She and fellow astronaut Daniel Tani completed a four hour, 12 minute spacewalk to install insulation on the International Space Station's main solar arrays.

Godwin was married to fellow astronaut Steven Nagel until his death in 2014.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Daniel Tani!

Daniel Tani, born February 1, 1961 in Pennsylvania, is a veteran of three Space Shuttle missions.

His first mission was on Endeavour (STS-108) in December 2001 as a mission specialist to the International Space Station.  He completed an EVA with Linda Godwin that lasted 4 hours and 12 minutes.

Before his next flight, he served as an aquanaut on NEEMO 2, NASA's underwater laboratory Aquarius for a week under the Atlantic Ocean.

His second trip to space was aboard Discovery (STS-120) to the ISS in October 2007.  He remained aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 16, during which he performed the 100th EVA in support of the building the ISS with Peggy Whitson.

He returned to Earth aboard Atlantis (STS-122) in February 2008.

Endeavour (STS-108) launched 2001

L-R: Mark Kelly, Linda Godwin, Daniel Tani, Dominic Pudwill Gorie

Mission Patch

Endeavour (STS-108) launched December 5, 2001, was the first mission after the 9/11 attacks and the crew honored the victims during the flight.  Endeavour's crew was Commander Dominic Pudwill Gorie, Pilot Mark E. Kelly, Mission Specialist Linda Godwin and Mission Specialist Daniel Tani.

She carried the crew of Expedition 4 to the International Space Station: Yuri Onufrienko, Carl Walz and Daniel Bursch.  On her return, she brought back the crew of Expedition 3: Frank Culbertson, Mikhail Turin, and Vladimir Dezhurov.

An American flag that was recovered the morning of Sept 12, 2001 from the site of the World Trade Center wreckage, a USMC flag recovered from the Pentagon and an American flag flown over the State Capital in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania flew on the Endeavour that mission.

Also, 23 badges of fallen NYPD officers and 6000 small American flags to honor those lost flew on the Space shuttle.  The 6000 flags were given to families who lost loved ones on 9/11.

During the mission Linda Godwin and Daniel Tani performed an EVA which lasted a little over 4 hours.  Endeavour landed on December 17.

Discovery (STS-120) launched 2007

L-R: Parazynski, Wheelock, Wilson, Zamka, Melroy, Tani, Nespoli

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-120) took off October 23, 2007, being the 23rd mission to the International Space Station.  Commander Pamela Melroy was the second woman after Eileen Collins to become commander of a space shuttle mission.  When they docked with the ISS, Peggy Whitson was commander of the space station so for the first time, there were two female mission commanders in space.

The rest of the crew consisted of Pilot George Zamka, Mission Specialist 1 Douglas Wheelock, Mission Specialist 2 Stephanie Wilson, Mission Specialist 3, Scott Parazynski, Mission Specialist 4 Paolo Nespoli (on the ISS right now!), and Mission Specialist 5 Daniel Tani.