Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Donald Pettit!

Donald Pettit, born April 20, 1955 in Silverton, Oregon, is a veteran of three space flights.

His first flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-113) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in November 2002.  He participated in Expedition 6 while aboard the ISS, and conducted two EVAs during the mission.  He returned to Earth Soyuz TMA-1 in May 2003.

His second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-126)  as mission specialist to the International Space Station in November 2008.  He helped operate the Canadarm2 robotic arm while aboard.

His third and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-03 to the International Space Station in December 2011.  He participated in Expeditions 30 and 31. 

Soyuz TMA-03M launched 2011

Soyuz TMA-03M crew (L-R): Donald Pettit, Oleg Kononenko, Andre Kuipers

Mission patch

Soyuz TMA-03M, launched December 21, 2011, carried members of Expedition 30 to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Oleg Kononenko (Roscosmos), Andre Kuipers (ESA), and Donald Pettit (NASA).  They returned to Earth July 2012, which marked the end of Expedition 31 and the beginning of Expedition 32.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko!

Oleg Kononenko, born June 21, 1964 in the former Soviet Union, has been into space four times.

His first flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-12 to the International Space Station in April 2008.  He participated in Expedition 17 and returned to Earth in October 2008.

His second mission was as commander aboard Soyuz TMA-03M in December 2011 to the ISS.  He participated in Expeditions 30 and 31.  He returned to Earth in July 2012.

Kononenko's third flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-17M as commander to the ISS in July 2015.  He participated in Expeditions 44 and 45.  He returned to Earth in December 2015.

His fourth flight was aboard Soyuz MS-11 as commander to the ISS in June 2018.  He participated in Expeditions 58 and 59. He returned to Earth in December 2018.

He has conducted 4 EVAs for a total of 24 hours and 28 minutes.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov!

Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov, born February 20, 1972 in Sevastopol, Ukraine, is a veteran of three space flights to the International Space Station.  He has served as an instructor and pilot for the Russian Air Force.

His first flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-22, which launched in November 2011 and returned to Earth in April 2012.  He served as flight engineer for Expeditions 29 and 30.  He made on EVA during the mission with fellow cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko, which lasted 6 hours, 15 minutes.

His second flight was as commander of Soyuz TMA-15M, launched in November 2014 and returned to Earth June 2015 after 199 days in space. Shkaplerov's total time in space was up to 365 days.  He was part of Expeditions 42 and 43.

His third flight was as commander of Soyuz MS-07, launched in December 2017 and returned to Earth in June 2018 after 166 days.  He participated in Expeditions 54 and 55.  He performed another EVA with fellow cosmonaut and Expedition 54 commander Alexander Misurkin, which lasted 8 hours, 13 minutes, the longest Russian spacewalk ever.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Anatoli Ivanishin!

Anatoli Ivanishin, born January 15, 1969, is a cosmonaut who has been into space twice. 

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-22 to the International Space Station in November 2011.  He participated in Expeditions 29 and 30.  He spent 165 days in space, returning to Earth in April 2012.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz MS-01 to the ISS in July 2016.  He was a part of Expeditions 48 and 49.  He was commander of Expedition 49.  He returned to Earth in October. 

Ivanishin has spent 280 days total in space.