James Kelly, born May 14, 1964 in Burlington, Iowa, traveled into space twice on Space Shuttle missions. He received his BS degree in astronautical engineering from the US Air Force Academy in 1986, and a MS in aerospace engineering from the University of Alabama in 1996.
His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001 as pilot to the International Space Station. He spent over 12 days in space.
His second and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-114), the "Return to Flight" mission, the first after the Columbia disaster, to the International Space Station in July-August 2005. He spent almost 2 weeks in space before returning to Earth.
One of my favorite actresses of all time, Cloris Leachman, born April 30, 1926 in Des Moines, Iowa, has won nine Emmy Awards, including a Daytime Emmy, more than any other performer. She won the title of Miss Chicago 1946 and competed in the Miss America pageant. She appeared in a handful of movies during the 1950s and 1960s, but mainly appeared on television. She won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in The Last Picture Show.
Leachman appeared in three Mel Brooks movies: Young Frankenstein, High Anxiety, and The History of the World: Part 1. She won her first Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Single Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role for her work in A Brand New Life. She won eight Primetime Emmys, a Daytime Emmy, and a Golden Globe among the many other awards she's received.
She remained acting until her passing in January 2021 from complications from a stroke with COVID-19 as a contributing factor.
George Nelson, born July 13, 1950 in Charles City, Iowa, is a veteran of three space flights.
His first trip was aboard Challenger (STS-41-C) as a mission specialist in April 1984. He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut James van Hoften for a little over 10 hours.
His second trip was aboard Columbia (STS-61-C) as mission specialist in January 1986. The mission was delayed four times and resulted in a delay for the next launch.
His third and final trip was aboard Discovery (STS-26) as mission specialist in September-October 1988. It was the "Return to Flight" mission, the first flight after the Challenger disaster.
David Hilmers, born January 28, 1950 in Clinton, Iowa, is a veteran of four space flights. He has a Doctor of Medicine degree from the Baylor College of Medicine.
Hilmers' first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-51-J) as mission specialist in October 1985. This was a Dept of Defense payload so everything was hush-hush.
His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-26) as mission specialist in September-October 1988. This was the "Return to Flight" mission, the first mission after the Challenger disaster in January 1986.
His third flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-36) as mission specialist in February-March 1990 on another Department of Defense mission.
His fourth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-42) as mission specialist in January 1992. The crew carried the International Microgravity Laboaratory-1 into orbit.
Loren Shriver, born September 23, 1944 in Jefferson, Iowa, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights. From 1969 to 1973 he was an academic pilot instructor at Vance Air Force Base over here in Enid, Oklahoma.
His first mission into space was aboard Discovery (STS-51-C) as pilot in January 1985. It was the first space shuttle flight to carry a classified payload for the Dept. of Defense.
His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-31) as commander in April 1990. This mission deployed the Hubble Space Telescope.
Shriver's third and final flight was on Atlantis (STS-46) as commander in July-August 1992. The mission deployed the Italian Space Agency's Tethered Satellite Relay System and the European Space Agency's European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA).
While we were mourning the loss of Burt Reynolds, another one of our beloved characters from our youth passed away. Bill Daily, who played Major Roger Healey on I Dream of Jeannie and Howard Borden on the Bob Newhart Show, died September 4 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His family announced his passing on September 7.
Born in Des Moines, Iowa, Daily served in the Korean War before going into entertainment, as a musician playing bass. He appeared in several TV shows, including Bewitched, before being cast as the bumbling, playboy sidekick to Larry Hagman's Major Nelson in I Dream of Jeannie, which also starred Barbara Eden.
Laurel Clark, born March 10, 1961 in Ames, Iowa, was a medical doctor and a space shuttle astronaut. She perished on her first mission STS-107 when Columbia disintegrated upon re-entry killing all on board.
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.
L-R: Thomas Pesquet, Peggy Whitson, Oleg Novitskiy
Mission patch
Soyuz MS-03 took off from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, November 17, 2016. On board were Oleg Novitskiy (Russia), Thomas Pesquet (France) and Peggy Whitson (Iowa). Peggy was the oldest woman to go into space, but I don't know of anyone who will actually say that to her. ;)
Soyuz MS-03 traveled to the International Space Station, docking on November 19. It undocked June 2, 2017 bringing Pesquet and Novitskiy back to Earth. Whitson stayed on the ISS until September 3.
Cosmonaut Vladimir Mikhaylovich Komarov, born March 16, 1927 in the Soviet Union, and astronaut R. Walt Cunningham, born March 16, 1932, are both heroes but whose stories end completely different.
Komarov, close friends with Yuri Gagarin, flew his first mission on Voskhod 1 in October 1964 with crew members Boris Yegorov and Konstantin Feoktistov. The flight lasted just over twenty four hours and its success awarded Komarov the Order of Lenin and Hero of the Soviet Union.
He was assigned to the Soyuz program to fly on Soyuz 1 April 1967. Long before the launch, Komarov knew there were major problems with the space capsule and feared that he would be killed if he flew in it. He wanted to refuse the mission, but his backup was Gagarin and Komarov did not want his friend to die.
Soyuz 1 launched April 23 and experienced problems shortly after launch. Upon re-entry, the parachutes did not deploy correctly and got tangled with the spacecraft. Komarov fell several miles to Earth. His last words were of him cursing the men who put him in a botched spacecraft.
Ronnie Walter Cunningham flew on Apollo 7, October 11, 1968 with Wally Schirra (who celebrated his birthday just a couple of days ago) and Donn Eisle. During the mission, Schirra developed a head cold and without the benefit of gravity, could not clear his sinuses. When the crew prepared for re-entry, they refused to wear their helmets. Schirra feared if he blew his nose, he might suffer a pierced ear drum.
As a result of this "mutiny" none of the Apollo 7 astronauts were assigned to future missions.
George Washington Carver, born into slavery in the early
1860’s (exact date unknown), rewrote the book on alternative crops, such as
peanuts and sweet potatoes. Actually, he
wrote the book. He managed to obtain an
education by attending a series of high schools before earning his diploma from
Minneapolis High School in Minneapolis, Kansas.
He found it difficult to get into college because of his
race, so he traveled to Ness County, Kansas where he maintained a small
laboratory with plants and flowers. He
also grew rice, corn and various fruit trees, earning money by performing odd
jobs around town. Carver took out a loan and began studying at Simpson College,
Indianola, Iowa. A teacher encouraged
him to study botany at Iowa State Agricultural College in Ames. In 1891, he was their first black student. He continued on until he got his master’s
degree.
He developed many agriculture techniques such as crop
rotation and developed many recipes for sweet potatoes and peanuts. He published bulletins to distribute his
agricultural information.
Carver was invited to speak at the United Peanut
Associations of America’s convention in 1920.
His testimony before Congress helped establish the Fordney-McCumber Tariff
in 1922 which included imported peanuts.
It helped American peanut farmers be more competitive with Chinese
imports.
In January 1943, Carver fell down a flight of stairs and
died from complications from the fall.
He was approximately 78.
