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.

Atlantis (STS-117) launched 2007

STS-117 crew (L-R): Clayton Anderson, James Reilly, Steven Swanson, Frederick Sturckow, Lee Archambault, Patrick Forrester, John Olivas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-117), launched June 8, 2007, carried a truss segment and a set of solar arrays to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault, Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John Olivas, James Reilly and Clayton Anderson. 

Reilly, Olivas, Forrester, and Swanson performed four EVAs for a combined total of 28 hours.  They returned to Earth June 22.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John "Danny" Olivas!

John "Danny" Olivas, born May 25, 1965 in North Hollywood, California, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in June 2007.  He conducted two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut James Reilly.

His second and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-128) as mission specialist to the ISS in August-September 2009.  He conducted three EVAs with fellow astronauts Nicole Stott and Christer Fuglesang.

Happy birthday, Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang!

Christer Fuglesang, an astronaut for the European Space Agency born March 18, 1957 in Stockholm, Sweden, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights and is the first Swedish astronaut.

His first spaceflight was on Discovery (STS-116) as mission specialist in December 2006 to the International Space Station.  He conducted 3 EVAs during the flight with fellow astronaut Robert Curbeam.  Ground Control played Waterloo by ABBA as one of Fuglesang's wake-up calls.

HIs second and final flight was on Discovery (STS-128) as mission specialist in August-September 2009 to the ISS.  During the mission he conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut John Olivas.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: John Olivas and Jose Hernandez, Mexican-American astronauts

John Daniel Olivas and Jose Moreno Hernandez, both born in California, are Mexican-American astronauts, who flew together on Discovery (STS-128) in August-September 2009.  It was the first Space Shuttle flight with two Hispanics on board. Olivas had flown on Atlantis (STS-117) in June 2007.  During mission STS-128, Olivas performed three EVAs.

Discovery (STS-128) launched 2009

Seated (L-R):  Kevin Ford, Frederick Sturckow

Standing (L-R): Jose Hernandez, John Olivas, Nicole Stott, Christer Fuglesang, Patrick Forrester

Discovery took off August 28, 2009, the 25th anniversary of its first flight just seconds before midnight, so NASA can say it is the first (probably the only) time a launch took place over two calendar days.

Her crew consisted of Commander Frederick Sturckow, Pilot Kevin Ford, Mission specialist 1 Patrick Forrester, Mission Specialist 2 Jose Hernandez, Mission Specialist 3 John Olivas, Mission Specialist 4 Christer Fuglesang (ESA - Sweden) and Mission Specialist Nicole Stott.

It is the first time two astronauts of Mexican heritage were in space at the same time.  Olivas performed 3 EVAs, once with Stott and twice with Fuglesang.

Discovery returned to Earth September 8.