Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Nicole Stott!

Nicole Stott, born November 19, 1962 in Albany, New York, has been in space two times.

Her first trip was aboard Discovery (STS-128) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in August 2009. She performed an EVA with fellow astronaut John Olivas for 6 hours and 35 minutes.

Stott remained on board the ISS as part of Expeditions 20 and 21.  She returned Earth aboard Atlantis (STS-129) in November 2009. 

Her second and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-133) as mission specialist to the ISS in February-March 2011.  She has stayed more than 103 days in space.

Happy birthday, Canadian astronaut Robert Thirsk!

Robert Thirsk, born August 17, 1953 in British Columbia, Canada, has been in space twice.  He holds the Canadian record for most time spent in space - 204 days, 18 hours.

His first trip was aboard Columbia (STS-78) as payload specialist in June 1996.  The mission was in preparation for the International Space Station.  He stayed in space for almost 17 days.

His second trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-15 to the International Space Station in May 2009.  He participated in Expeditions 20 and 21.  He returned to Earth in December 2009.

Happy birthday, astronaut Michael Barratt!

Michael Barratt, born April 16, 1959 in Vancouver, Washington, is a veteran of two space flights.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-14 in March 2009 to the International Space Station.  He participated in Expeditions 19 and 20.  He and fellow astronaut Gennady Padalka performed two EVAs during the mission.  Barratt returned to Earth October 2009.

His second and final mission was aboard Discovery's final mission (STS-133) as mission specialist in February-March 2011 to the ISS.  Barratt operated the Canadarm2 during the mission.

In October 2004, Barratt participated in the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 7 mission.

Happy birthday, astronaut Tim Kopra!

Timothy Kopra, born April 9, 1963 in Austin, Texas, has traveled twice into space. 

His first flight into space was aboard space shuttle Endeavour (STS-127) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in July 2009.  He remained aboard the ISS as part of Expedition 20 and returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-128) in September 2009.

His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-19M om December 2015.  He participated in Expeditions 46 and 47, returning to Earth in June 2016.

He spent 244 days in space, and conducted 3 EVAs.

In 2006, he participated as an aquanaut in the Aquarius underwater laboratory during the NEEMO 11 mission.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Gennady Padalka!

Gennady Padalka, born June 21, 1958, holds the current record for the longest time spent in space, 879 days.  That's time spent on both Mir and the International Space Station.  He attained the rank of colonel in the Russian Air Force.

His first flight into space was aboard Soyuz TM-28 in August 1998 as commander as part of Mir expedition EO-26. He returned to Earth in February 1999.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-4 in April 2004 as commander to the ISS as part of Expedition 9.

His third flight was on Soyuz TMA-14 in March 2009 as commander of Expeditions 19 and 20 on the ISS.  During the mission, he logged almost 16 hours of EVA time.

His fourth flight was on Soyuz TMA-04M in May 2012 as flight engineer for Expedition 31 and then commander of Expedition 32.

His fifth and final flight was about Soyuz TMA-16M in March 2015 as commander for Expeditions 43 and 44.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Roman Romanenko!

Roman Romanenko, born August 9, 1971 in the former Soviet Union, is a cosmonaut and a veteran of two expeditions on the International Space Station.  His father is cosmonaut Yuri Romanenko, a Soyuz and Mir cosmonaut.

Romanenko's first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-15 to the ISS in May 2009, where he became part of Expeditions 20 and 21.  He was the third second-generation astronaut after Sergey Volkov and Richard Garriott. 

His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-07M in December 2012.  He was a member of Expeditions 34 and 35.  He conducted his first space walk during this mission.

He has since retired from Roscosmos.

Soyuz TMA-14 launched 2009

From left to right: Charles Simonyi, Gennadi Padalka, Michael Barratt

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-14, launched March 26, 2009, carried two members of Expedition 19 to the International Space Station.  Its crew was Gennady Padalka (Roscosmos) and Michael Barratt (NASA).  Also on board was a space tourist Charles Simonyi, who was traveling on his second self-funded flight to the space station.

Padalka and Barratt stayed on the ISS throughout Expeditions 19 and 20 and returned to Earth, October 11, 2009.  Another space tourist, Guy Laliberte from Canada, returned with them. 

Roscosmos and nations' space program invited children from ages 6-15 to design and submit a patch for Soyuz TMA-14.  The winner was Anna Chibiskova from Moscow.  Her artwork was incorporated into the patch.