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-11 launched 2007

Soyuz TMA-11 crew (L-R): Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, Yuri Malenchenko, Peggy Whitson

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-11, launched October 10, 2007, carried two members of Expedition 16 and the first Malaysian astronaut to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Yuri Malenchenko (Roscosmos), Peggy Whitson (NASA) and Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, who flew as part of an agreement between the Russian and Malaysian governments.

Shukor stayed on the ISS for about 10 days and returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-10.  Malenchenko and Whitson stayed on board for almost 192 days and returned in April 2008.  The first Korean astronaut, Yi So-yeon, joined them on the return trip.  She had arrived about 10 days earlier on Soyuz TMA-12.

During re-entry, Soyuz TMA-11 made a ballistic maneuver, which meant its descent was steeper than normal, due to a malfunction.  They landed safe and sound about 475 km from their target. 

Happy birthday, astronaut Peggy Whitson!

Peggy Whitson, born February 9, 1960 in Mount Ayr, Iowa, holds the U.S. record for spending the most time in space, 665 days.

Her first mission was on Endeavour (STS-111) in June 2002 as mission specialist to the International Space Station.  She stayed on board as Expedition 5 until December 2002 when she returned on Endeavour (STS-113).

Her next trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-11 as flight engineer in October 2007.  She served as commander of Expedition 16, returning in April 2008.

Her next trip to the ISS was on Soyuz MS-03 in November 2016 as part of Expeditions 50-52.  She returned to Earth September 3, 2017 on Soyuz MS-04.

Only seven Russian men have stayed in space longer than Peggy.