Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Clayton Anderson!

Clayton Anderson, born February 23, 1959 in Ashland, Nebraska, has been in space twice.  

His first trip into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in June 2007.  He remained aboard the ISS as part of Expeditions 15 and 16, returning to Earth on Discovery (STS-120) in November 2007.

His second and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-131) as mission specialist to the ISS in April 2010.  During the mission, he performed three EVAs with fellow astronaut Rick Mastracchio for about 20 and a half hours.

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, Space Shuttle astronaut Patrick Forrester!

Patrick Forrester, born March 31, 1957 in El Paso, Texas, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-105) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in August 2001.  He conducted 2 EVAs with fellow astronaut Daniel Barry for over 12 hours  total.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as mission specialist to the ISS in June 2007.  He conducted two more EVAs with fellow astronaut Steven Swanson for almost 14 hours.

His third and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-128) as mission specialist to the ISS in August-September 2009, but he did not do any EVAs during this trip into space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Lee Archambault!

Lee Archambault, born August 25, 1960 in Oak Park, Illinois, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  After receiving a commission of Second Lieutenant from the US Air Force, he completed pilot training at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as pilot in June 2007 to the International Space Station.  It was the longest flight of Atlantis, lasting almost two weeks.

His second and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-119) as commander in March 2009 to the ISS.  The mission delivered assembly parts to the space station.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Frederick Sturckow!

Frederick Sturckow, born August 11, 1961 in La Mesa, California, flew on four space shuttle missions.

His first mission into space was aboard Endeavour (STS-88) as pilot in December 1998.  It was the first space shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-105) as pilot in August 2001.  It carried Expedition 3 to the ISS and returned with Expedition 2.

His third trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as commander in June 2007.  He performed the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM), which is a "back flip" to allow the crew of the ISS to photograph the heat shields of the shuttle's belly.

Sturckow's fourth and final space shuttle mission was on Discovery (STS-128) as commander in August-September 2008.  It was the final mission to land at Edwards Air Force Base.

Sturckow retired from the Marine Corps as colonel in 2009.

Sturckow is currently test flying Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spacecraft as they prepare for commercial operations in outer space.

Happy birthday, astronaut Steven Swanson!

Steven Swanson, born December 3, 1960 in Syracuse, New York, grew up in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  He is a veteran of two space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission.

His first flight into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) to the International Space Station in June 2007 as mission specialist. The mission lasted almost two weeks because of bad weather, making it the longest mission for Atlantis.

Swanson's second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-119) in March 2009 to the ISS as mission specialist.  He performed two EVAs during the mission.

His third and last mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-12M to the ISS as part of Expedition 39 and 40, the latter of which he served as commander.  He spent 169 days in space.



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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.