Happy birthday, astronaut Gregory Chamitoff!

Gregory Chamitoff, born August 6, 1962 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has been in space twice.  

His first trip was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in May 2008.  He participated in Expeditions 17 and 18 spending about six months on the space station.  He returned to Earth aboard Endeavour (STS-126) in November.

His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) to the International Space Station in May-June 2011.  He spent almost 16 days in space.  It was the last flight of Endeavour. 

He spent a total of 198 days, 18 hours in space.  

Happy birthday, astronaut Michael Fincke!

Michael "Spanky" Fincke, born March 14, 1967 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been in space three times.

Fincke's first trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-4 as flight engineer in April 2004 to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 9.  He conducted four EVAs during the mission.  He returned to Earth in October 2004, after over 187 days in space.

His second trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-13 as flight engineer to the ISS in October 2008.  He was part of Expedition 18 and conducted 2 EVAs during the expedition.  He returned to Earth in April 2009.

His third flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) as mission specialist to the ISS in May 2011.  He conducted 3 EVAs during the mission.  He returned wiht the rest of the crew in June.

He has been selected to fly on the first crewed flight of the CST-100 Starliner, Boeing's capsule for participating in NASA's Commercial Crew Development program.  When he does, he will become the first astronaut since John Young to fly into space aboard three different launch vessels.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yury Lonchakov!

Yury Lonchakov, born March 4, 1965 in Kazakhstan, is a veteran of three space flights.  His first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-100) as mission specialist in April-May 2001.  The objective of the mission was to install the Canadarm2 to the International Space Station.

His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-1 to the ISS.  He stayed aboard for almost 11 days before returning to Earth via Soyuz TM-34.

His third and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-13 as commander to the ISS.  He was part of the crew of Expedition 18.  He returned to Earth in April 2009.

Soyuz TMA-13 launched 2008

Soyuz TMA-13 crew (L-R): Richard Garriott, Yury Lonchakov, Michael Fincke

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-13, launched October 12, 2008 to the International Space Station, was the 100th manned Soyuz spacecraft.  Its crew consisted of Yury Lonchakov (Roscosmos), Michael Fincke (NASA) and Richard Garriott (space tourist).

Lonchakov and Fincke were the crew of Expedition 18 and remained on the ISS until April 2009.

Richard Garriott is the son of Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott.  Space tourist Charles Simonyi returned with Lonchakov and Fincke in April 2009.

Discovery (STS-119) launched 2009

Front row (L–R) Tony Antonelli, Lee Archambault. 

Back row (L–R) Joe Acaba, John L. Phillips, Steven Swanson, Richard Arnold, Koichi Wakata.

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-119) was launched March 15, 2009, the 125th shuttle mission and 28th trip to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Lee Archambault, Pilot Tony Antonelli, Joe Acaba, Steven Swanson, Richard Arnold, John L. Phillips and Koichi Wakata from JAXA.

A free-tailed bat was seen clinging to a fuel tank during the launch.  NASA observers thought it was have flown off once the shuttle started to launch but it did not.  A bat doctor analyzed the pictures and believed that it might have had a broken wing which is why it didn't fly away.  It probably was shaken off and incinerated in the rocket exhaust. 

They docked with the ISS on March 17 and crew performed three EVAs during the mission.  Wakata remained on board the ISS as part of Expedition 18.  Sandra Magnus, another member of Expedition 18, returned to Earth with the STS-119 crew March 28.