Happy birthday, NASA astronaut Ronald Garan!

Ronald Garan, Jr., born October 30, 1961 in Yonkers, New York, is a veteran of two space flights.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in May-June 2008.  He conducted three EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut Michael Fossum.

His second and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-21 as Flight Engineer to the ISS in April 2011.  He participated in Expeditions 27 and 28.  He conducted an EVA with Fossum in July 2011.  He returned to Earth in September 2011.

Piers Sellers, British astronaut, born 1955

Piers Sellers, born April 11, 1955 in East Sussex, England, was a veteran of three space shuttle missions.

His first trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-112) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in October 2002.  He conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut David Wolf for a total of over 19 hours.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-121) as mission specialist to the ISS in July 2006.  He conducted three more EVAs with fellow astronaut Michael Fossum.

His third and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-132) as mission specialist to the ISS in May 2010.  He operated the Canadarm 2 robotic arm during the mission.

He passed away in December 2016 of pancreatic cancer.

Discovery (STS-121) launched 2006

STS-121 crew (L-R):  Stephanie Wilson, Michael Fossum, Steven Lindsey, Piers Sellers, Mark Kelly, Thomas Reiter, Lisa Nowak.

Mission patch

Space shuttle Discovery (STS-121), launched July 4, 2006, carried equipment and supplies to the International Space Station as well as a German astronaut from the European Space Agency.  Its crew consisted of Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Mark Kelly, Michael Fossum, Lisa Nowak, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and Thomas Reiter (ESA).

Part of the mission was to test new safety and repair techniques put in place by NASA following the Columbia disaster.  Three EVAs were conducted during the mission by Mike Fossum, Mark Kelly and Piers Sellers.

The crew returned to Earth July 17.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Michael Fossum!

Michael Fossum, born December 19, 1957 in Sioux Falls, South Dakota is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. 

His first trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-121) as mission specialist to the ISS in July 2006.  The main objective of this flight was to test new safety and repair techniques put into place after the Columbia disaster.  He performed three EVAs with fellow astronaut Piers Sellers.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-124) in May-June 2008 as mission specialist to the ISS.  He performed three more EVAs with fellow astronaut Ronald Garan. 

His third and final trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-02M, which launched in June 2011 as part of Expedition 28 crew.  He was commander of Expedition 29 from September to November 2011, when he returned to Earth
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Discovery (STS-124) launched 2008

STS-124 crew (L-R): Gregory Chamitoff, Michael Fossum, Kenneth Ham, Mark Kelly, Karen Nyberg, Ronald Garan and Akihiko Hoshide

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-124), launched May 31, 2008, delivered the Japanese Experiment Module called Kibo to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Kenneth Ham, Karen Nyberg, Ronald Garan, Michael Fossum, Akihiko Hoshide (JAXA) and Gregory Chamitoff.

The crew also delivered replacement parts for a malfunctioning toilet on the ISS.

They returned to Earth on June 14.