Happy birthday, astronaut Shane Kimbrough!

Robert "Shane" Kimbrough, born June 4, 1967 in Killeen, Texas, has been in space three times.

He graduated from the US Military Academy and flew Apache helicopters in the Operation Desert Storm. He joined NASA in 2000 and was part of the first group of astronauts selected following the Columbia disaster.

His first mission into space was aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-126) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in November 2008.  He conducted two EVAs, lasting a total of almost 13 hours.  He spent almost 16 days in space.

Kimbrough's second trip into space was aboard Soyuz MS-02 as flight engineer to the ISS in October 2016.  He participated in Expeditions 49-50.  He carried a soccer ball belonging to Ellison Onizuka, who died in the Challenger disaster to the ISS. He returned to Earth in April 2017, after over 173 days in space.

His third mission into space was aboard SpaceX Crew-2 as commander to the ISS in April 2021 to the ISS. He participated in Expeditions 65-66. He returned to Earth in November 2021, after more than 199 days in space, the longest US mission to date. 

Happy birthday, French astronaut Thomas Pesquet!

Thomas Pesquet, born February 27, 1978 in Rouen, France, is an astronaut for the European Space Agency.  He went into space aboard Soyuz MS-03 in November 2016 to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 50.  He also participated in Expedition 51 before returning to Earth in June 2017.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy!

Oleg Novitskiy, born October 12, 1971 in Belarus, has been in space twice.

 His first trip into space was as commander of Soyuz TMA-06M in October 2012 to the International Space Station.  He remained on board for Expeditions 33 and 34.  He returned to Earth in March 2013.

His second trip was aboard Soyuz MS-03 as commander in November 2016 to the ISS.  He was part of the crews of Expeditions 50 and 51, returning to Earth in June 2017.

He has spent over 340 days in space.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko!

Andrey Borisenko, born April 17, 1964 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, has spent almost a year in space total aboard the International Space Station.

His first mission into space was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-21 (Gagarin) launched in April 2011 as part of Expeditions 27 and 28.  It was devoted to the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic first manned space mission.  He returned to Earth with his fellow astronauts September 16, 2011.  During re-entry, communications with the crew were lost and caused concern on the ground, but the crew landed safely.  A cause for the communications lost has not been determined.

His second and most recent mission was on Soyuz MS-02 as Flight Engineer, launched October 19, 2016 as part of Expeditions 49 and 50.  He returned to Earth April 10, 2017.  During re-entry, the capsule experience partial depressurization when a buckle that was part of the deployment system struck a welding seam.  Fortunately, this happened about 8 km (4.8 miles) above ground, so they were at a relatively safe altitude.

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.