Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Clayton Anderson!

Clayton Anderson, born February 23, 1959 in Ashland, Nebraska, has been in space twice.  

His first trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in June 2007.  He remained aboard the ISS as part of Expeditions 15 and 16, returning to Earth on Discovery (STS-120) in November 2007.

His second and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-131) as mission specialist to the ISS in April 2010.  During the mission, he performed three EVAs with fellow astronaut Rick Mastracchio for about 20 and a half hours.

Soyuz TMA-10 launched 2007

Soyuz TMA-10 crew (L-R): Charles Simonyi, Oleg Kotov, Fyodor Yurchikhin

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-10, launched April 7, 2007, carried members of Expedition 15 and a space tourist to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Oleg Kotov and Fyodor Yurchikhin.  The tourist was Charles Simonyi of Hungary.

Simonyi stayed on board for 26 days and returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-9.  Kotov and Yurchikhin remained on the ISS until October 2007.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin!

Cosmonaut Fyodor Yurchikhin, born January 3, 1959 in the former Soviet Union, has been in space five times. 

His first trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-112) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in October 2002.

His second missoin was aboard Soyuz TMA-10 to the ISS as part of Expedition 15.  During the expedition, he conducted 3 EVAs.

His third trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-19 as commander to the ISS in June 2010. He participated in Expeditions 24 and 25 and conducted 2 EVAs during the stay.

His fourth trip was as commander of Soyuz TMA-09M to the ISS in May 2013, as part of Expeditions 36 and 37.  He conducted two more EVAs during the mission.

His fifth and final trip was as commander of Soyuz MS-04 to the ISS in April 2017, as part of Expeditions 51 and 52, when he conducted his ninth and final EVA.