Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Donald McMonagle!

Donald McMonagle, born May 14, 1952 in Flint, Michigan, is a veteran of three space flights. 

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-39) as mission specialist in April-May 1991.  The mission carried a payload of experiments for the Department of Defense.

His second flight was as pilot on Endeavour (STS-54) in January 1993. 

His third and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-66) as commander in November 1994. 

He spent more than 25 days total in space.

Discovery (STS-39) launched 1991

STS-39 crew (L-R): Charles Veach, Michael Coats, Gregory Harbaugh, Donald McMonagle, Blaine Hammond, Richard Hieb, Guion Bluford

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery, launched April 28, 1991, carried experiments for the Department of Defense into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Michael Coats, Pilot Blaine Hammond, Gregory Harbaugh, Donald McMonagle, Guion Bluford, Charles Veach, and Richard Hieb.

They returned to Earth May 6.

Endeavour (STS-54) launched 1993

Left to right: Mario Runco, John Casper, Don McMonagle, Susan Helms, Greg Harbaugh

 Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour launched January 13, 1993 on its third mission (STS-54). Her crew was Commander John Casper, Pilot Donald McMonagle, Mission Specialist 1 Mario Runco, Jr., Mission Specialist 2 Gregory Harbaugh and Mission Specialist Susan Helms.

On the fifth day of the mission, Mario Runco and Greg Harbaugh spent almost 5 hours in the open cargo bay conducting space-walking tests to show how people could work in space.

Endeavour returned January 19.

Atlantis (STS-66) launched 1994, first flight for Jean-Francois "Billy Bob" Clervoy

(L-R): Jean-Francois Clervoy, Scott Parazynski, Curtis Brown, Jr., Joseph Tanner, Donald McMonagle, Ellen Ochoa

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-66) blasted off November 3, 1994 from Kennedy Space Center.  It was the first flight for astronauts Joseph Tanner, Scott Parazynski, and Jean-Francois Clervoy, astronaut from the National Centre for Space Studies, the French space agency.  It was also the second flight for the first Latina in space, Ellen Ochoa. 

Clervoy's fellow astronauts nicknamed him "Billy Bob" since they had trouble pronouncing his name.

The crew took advantage of the timing to study the hole in ozone over the Antarctic.  For the next 14 years, Atlantis' flights were dedicated to Mir or the International Space Station until the repair mission to the Hubble Telescope  in 2009.

Atlantis landed at Edwards Air Force Base November 14.