Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut, Pamela Melroy!

Pamela Melroy, born September 17, 1961 in Palo Alto, California, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  She is the second woman after Eileen Collins to command a Space Shuttle mission.

Her first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-92) as pilot to the International Space Station in October 2000.  It was the 100th Space Shuttle mission.

Her second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-112) as pilot to the ISS in October 2002.  One of her wake-up songs was Prime Time by the Alan Parsons Project!

Her third and last mission was aboard Discovery (STS-120) as commander to the ISS in October-November 2007.  She met Peggy Whitson, who was commander of the ISS at the time.  It was the first time two female commanders were in space simultaneously.

Discovery (STS-63) launched 1995

STS-63 crew

First row (L-R): Janice Voss, Eileen Collins, James Wetherbee, Vladimir Titov

Back row (L-R): Bernard Harris, Michael Foale

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-63), launched February 3, 1995, was the first space shuttle rendezvous with the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Eileen Collins, Bernard Harris, Michael Foale, Janice Voss, and Vladimir Titov (Roscosmos).  It was the first flight to have a female pilot.

Foale and Harris performed an EVA for over 4 1/2 hours.

They returned to Earth February 11.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-François Clervoy!

Jean-Francois Clervoy, born November 19, 1958 in France, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  He has represented both the European Space Agency and the National Centre for Space Studies (French space agency). 

His first mission into space was as mission specialist on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.  The mission studied the Antarctic Zone Hole while it was diminishing to study its possible effects on mid-latitudes.

His next flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) to the space station Mir in May 1997.  He flew with birthday twin and fellow astronaut Eileen Collins.

Clervoy's third and last mission was on Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999.  It was a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the last solo flight of Discovery.

Discovery (STS-114) launched 2005

Back (L-R): Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Charles Camarda, Soichi Noguchi 

Front (L–R): James Kelly, Wendy Lawrence, Eileen Collins

STS-114 mission patch

Discovery (STS-114), launched July 26, 2005 to the International Space Station, was the "Return to Flight", the first space shuttle mission following the Columbia disaster in 2003.  During Discovery's liftoff, video footage showed a piece of debris separating from the external tank, which was caused the Columbia disaster.  As a result, NASA decided to postpone future flights until they could modify the design.  Shuttle flights resumed a year later in July 2006.

STS-114's crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Soichi Noguchi (JAXA), Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda.  It was the second mission to be commanded by a woman, Eileen Collins, who also commanded STS-93. 

Three EVAs were performed by Robinson and Noguchi. 

Columbia (STS-93) launched 1999

STS-93 crew (L-R): Eileen Collins, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Ashby, Michel Tognini, Catherine Coleman.

STS-93 mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia blasted off July 23, 1999 with the first female commander of any shuttle mission.  Its crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot Jeffrey Ashby, Michel Tognini (Centre National d'etudes Spatiales, CNES), Steven Hawley and Catherine Coleman.

The mission's primary objective was to deploy the Chandra X-ray Observatory, the most sophisticated of its kind ever built.

After this flight, Columbia went out of service for upgrading and did not fly again until 2002 (STS-109).

The crew returned to Earth July 28.

Atlantis (STS-84) launched to Mir 1997

STS-84 crew:

Front Row (L-R): Jerry Linenger, Charles Precourt, Michael Foale; 

Back Row (L-R): Jean-Francois Clervoy, Eileen Collins, Ed Lu, Yelena Kondakova, Carlos Noriega

Mission patch

Atlantis (STS-84), launched May 17, 1997, was the sixth shuttle mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Charles Precourt, Pilot Eileen Collins, Jean-Francois Clervoy, Carlos Noriega, Ed Lu, Yelena Kondakova and Michael Foale.

Michael Foale stayed aboard as part of Expedition Mir EO-23, and Jerry Linenger returned with the STS-84 crew on May 24.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Eileen Collins!

Eileen Marie Collins, born November 19, 1956 in Elmira, New York, is a veteran of four Space Shuttle flights.  She is the first female pilot for a space shuttle and first female commander of a space shuttle mission. Her parents immigrated from Ireland.

Her first flight was on Discovery (STS-63) in February 1995 as pilot, the first female to pilot the space shuttle.  She also piloted Atlantis (STS-84) in May 1997.

She served as commander aboard Columbia (STS-93) July 1999 for her third trip.  Her fourth and final trip was on Discovery (STS-114) July - August 2005.  During this last flight, Collins performed a backflip maneuver of Discovery so the crew of the International Space Station could check the hull for missing tiles.

How cool is that!

Space Shuttle Discovery "Return to Flight" launched 2005

STS-114 Crew - Back row (L-R): Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Charles Camarda, Soichi Noguchi.

Front Row (L-R): James Kelly, Wendy Lawrence, Eileen Collins

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off July 26, 2005, the “Return to Flight” since it was the first space shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster in 2003.  During the launch, video footage showed debris separating from the external tank.  NASA decided to postpone future flights until they could make additional modifications to the hardware.  Shuttle flights resumed on July 4, 2006 but part of that delay was due to Hurricane Katrina.

Its crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James M. Kelly, Mission Specialist 1 Soichi Noguchi (courtesy of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA), Mission Specialist 2 Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Specialist 3 Andrew S. W. Thomas (first Aussie in space back in 1996), Mission Specialist 4 Wendy B. Lawrence and Mission Specialist Charles J. Camarda.

They performed 3 EVAs over the course of 8 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes.

Happy birthday, Astronaut Bernard Harris!

Astronaut Bernard Harris, born June 26, 1956 in Temple, Texas, became the first black astronaut to perform an EVA.  His first mission was STS-55, in April 1993 on board the  Space Shuttle Columbia where he was a payload specialist.   His second flight was STS-63 in February 1995 aboard Discovery, the first mission of the US/Russia Shuttle/Mir program.  Harris performed an EVA with Michael Foale, who performed the first EVA for a British astronaut.  It was also the first time a Shuttle was piloted by a female, Eileen Collins.

First space walk by a Briton and an African American 1995

During Discovery's mission (STS-63) in 1995, Michael Foale, a British-born American, and Bernard A. Harris, Jr. an African-American from Temple, Texas, performed EVA's on February 9, 1995.  They are the first Briton and first African-American to perform Extra Vehicular Activities.

Their space walk lasted over 4 and a half hours.  Their objective was to test new modifications on the space suits meant to keep astronauts warm in the extreme cold of space.  The EVA was called off when both of them became very cold.

This was the first Space Shuttle mission to have a female pilot, Eileen Collins.