Happy birthday, British/American astronaut Michael Foale!

Michael Foale, born January 6, 1957 in Lincolnshire, England, is a veteran of six space missions.  He is the only NASA astronaut to have spent extended missions on Mir and the International Space Station.  He is the first Briton to perform a spacewalk and holds the record for time-in-space for a UK citizen.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as mission specialist in March-April 1992.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-56) as mission specialist in April 1993.

His third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995.  It was the first space shuttle mission to dock with Mir.  He conducted his first EVA with fellow astronaut Bernard Harris, the first African-American astronaut to conduct an EVA.

His fourth mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) as mission specialist to Mir launched in May 1997.  He was part of expeditions Mir EO-23 and Mir EO-24.  He returned to Earth aboard Atlantis (STS-86) in October 1997.

His fifth flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Claude Nicollier.

His sixth and final mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the ISS launched in October 2003 as part of Expedition 8.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Aleksandr Kaleri. He returned to Earth in April 2004.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Steven Smith!

Steven Smith, born December 30, 1958 in Phoenix, Arizona, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights and seven space walks.

His first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-68) as mission specialist in September-October 1994.  He spent just over 11 days in space.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-82) in February 1997 as mission specialist.  It was the second servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Smith conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Mark Lee.

His third mission was on Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999 to service the Hubble Space Telescope again.  He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut John Grunsfield.

Smith's fourth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-110) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in April 2002.  He conducted two more EVAs with fellow astronaut Rex Walheim,

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John Grunsfeld!

John Grunsfeld, born October 10, 1958 in Chicago, Illinois, is a veteran of five space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-67) as mission specialist in March 1995.  The mission carried an experiment sponsored by the Australian Space Office.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-81) as mission specialist in January 1997 to the space station Mir.  During the mission, Grunsfeld made a call to the NPR show Car Talk, which was hosted by two fellow graduates of MIT.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999. It was a servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Grunsfeld conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Steven Smith.

His fourth mission was aboard Columbia (STS-109) as mission specialist in March 2002.  It was another (the fourth) servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Grunsfeld conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Richard Linnehan.

His fifth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-125) as mission specialist in May 2009.  It was the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  Grunsfeld conducted three EVAs with fellow astronaut Andrew Feustel.

His total EVA time is 58 hours, 30 minutes.  His time in space is 58 days, 15 hours, 3 minutes.

Happy birthday, French astronaut Jean-François Clervoy!

Jean-Francois Clervoy, born November 19, 1958 in France, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  He has represented both the European Space Agency and the National Centre for Space Studies (French space agency). 

His first mission into space was as mission specialist on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.  The mission studied the Antarctic Zone Hole while it was diminishing to study its possible effects on mid-latitudes.

His next flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) to the space station Mir in May 1997.  He flew with birthday twin and fellow astronaut Eileen Collins.

Clervoy's third and last mission was on Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist in December 1999.  It was a repair mission to the Hubble Space Telescope and the last solo flight of Discovery.

Happy birthday, Swiss astronaut Claude Nicollier!

Claude Nicollier, born September 2, 1944, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights and Switzerland's first astronaut.

His historic first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-46) as mission specialist in July 1992.  The mission's main objectives were to deploy the ESA's European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) and the joint project between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, the Tethered Satellite System (TSS).

His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-61) as mission specialist in December 1993.  Nicollier used Endeavour's robotic arm to capture and re-deploy the Hubble Space Telescope.

His third flight was on Columbia (STS-75) as mission specialist February-March 1996.  The mission's main objective was to deploy another tethered satellite TSS-1R, a 'reflight' from STS-46.

Nicollier's fourth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) in December 1999, another servicing trip to the Hubble Telescope.  Nicollier performed an EVA as part of the maintenance and repair of the Hubble.

Atlantis (STS-125) launched 2009

STS-125 crew (L-R): Mike Massimino, Michael Good, Gregory C. Johnson, Scott Altman, Megan McArthur,  John Grunsfeld and Andrew Feustel

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-125), launched May 11, 2009, was the fifth and final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. Its crew consisted of Commander Scott Altman, Pilot Greg C. Johnson, Michael Good, Megan McArthur, John Grunsfeld, Mike Massimino and Andrew Feustel.

Three of the astronauts had already worked on the Hubble Telescope on previous missions.  Scott Altman, Mike Massimino and John Grunsfeld were all on STS-109, the fourth servicing mission.  Grunsfeld had also traveled to Hubble on STS-103. 

On Day 7, the crew woke up to New York State of Mind by Billy Joel, chosen by Mike Massimino.

Happy birthday, twin astronauts Mark and Scott Kelly!

Mark and Scott Kelly

Twins Mark Edward Kelly and Scott Joseph Kelly, born February 21, 1964 in Orange, New Jersey, are both astronauts, who were selected by NASA in 1986 and have logged many hours in space.

Mark Kelly is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  His first trip into space was aboard Endeavour (STS-108) to the International Space Station in December 2001 as pilot.  His second missin was aboard Discovery (STS-121) also to the ISS as pilot in July 2006.  He served as commander on his third flight back on Discovery (STS-124) May-June 2006.  His fourth and final flight was on Endeavour (STS-134) as commander May-June 2011.  He retired from NASA June 21, 2011 to help his wife, Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded in an assassination attempt, recover from her injuries.

Scott Kelly has flown two space shuttle missions and set a record in 2015 for the total number of accumulated days.  This record was broken the following year by Jeff Williams, and the year after by Peggy Whitson.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as pilot in December 1999, a servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.  His second mission was on Endeavour (STS-118) as commander to the ISS in August 2007.  He flew to the ISS aboard Soyuz TMA-01M to the ISS with Commander Aleksandr Kaleri and Oleg Skripochka in October 7, 2010.  He first served as flight engineer on Expedition 25, beginning the second part of the expedition.  He became commander of Expedition 26 which began on November 10, 2010.  He returned to Earth March 16, 2011.

His fourth and final mission was on Soyuz TMA-16M launched March 27, 2015 with Mikhail Kornienko, when he began a year-long mission aboard the ISS.  He spent 11 months inspace, conducting 3 EVAs before he returned to Earth March 2016 on Soyuz TMA-18M.  He was aboard the ISS for Expeditions 43-46.  Upon his return, he retired from NASA in April 2016.

He published a book last year Endurance about his time in space.

Discovery (STS-103) launched 1999

Left to right; C. Michael Foale, Claude Nicollier, Scott J. Kelly, Curtis L. Brown, Jr., Jean-Francois Clervoy, John M. Grunsfeld and Steven L. Smith

Mission patch

Discovery blasted off December 19, 1999 on mission STS-103 to service the Hubble Space Telescope.  Her international crew consisted of Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Scott Kelly, mission specialists John Grunsfeld, Jean-Francois Clervoy (ESA), Michael Foale, Steven Smith and Claude Nicollier (ESA)

Four EVAs were scheduled but scaled back to only three.  Smith and Grunsfeld each performed two, while Foale and Nicollier did one.  Each EVA lasted a little over 8 hours.

Discovery attained the highest altitude for a Space Shuttle flight, 378 miles!  It was the last solo flight for Discovery since the rest were to the International Space Station. It was the third time a crew has spent Christmas in space.

It was the fourth and final flight of Claude Nicollier, the first Swiss astronaut. It was Scott Kelly's inaugural flight.