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.

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.

Discovery's final launch 2011

From left to right: Alvin Drew, Nicole Stott, Eric Boe, Steven Lindsey, Michael Barratt and Steve Bowen

Mission Patch

Space Shuttle Discovery took off February 24, 2011, NASA's 133rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station and the last flight of Discovery.  Its crew consisted of Commander Steven Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, Nicole Stott, Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt, Stephen Bowen

It was originally slated to launch in September 2010, but moved back to October 2010 and then February 2011.  It also took several attempts to land, scrubbing the first five tries.

They returned to Earth March 9.

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.