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.
Stephanie Wilson, born September 27, 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights. She is the second African-American woman in space (third if you count Nichelle Nichols) and has spent more time in space than any African-American, male or female.
Her first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-121) in July 2006 as a mission specialist to the International Space Station. She operated the Candarm2 to transfer equipment and inspect the shuttle for any signs of micro-meteroid damage.
Her second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-120) as mission specialist in October-November 2007 to the ISS. She operated the Candarm2 again during the mission.
Her third flight was again aboard Discovery (STS-131) as a mission specialist in April 2010 to the ISS.
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.
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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German astronaut Thomas Reiter, born May 23, 1958 in Frankfurt, West Germany, went into space for the European Space Agency. He has spent over 350 days in space, more than any non-American or non-Russian. He is also the first German to perform an EVA.
His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-22 to the space station Mir. He was part of expedition Mir EO-20 from September 1995 to February 1996. During this time he conducted two EVAs, becoming the first German to perform a space walk.
His second trip was aboard Discovery (STS-121) to the International Space Station as a mission specialist in July 2006, when he became part of Expedition 13. He remained on board the ISS to become a member of Expedition 14. He was replaced by Sunita Williams in December, aboard Discovery (STS-116).
Stephanie Wilson is the second black female astronaut to travel into space, after Mae Jemison, and she is a veteran of three space shuttle flights. She has spent more time in space than any other black astronaut, male or female.
Born September 27, 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts, she began her astronaut training in August 1996 and first went into space on Discovery (STS-121) as mission specialist in July 2006. She and fellow astronaut Lisa Nowak operated the robotic arm on the International Space Station during the mission.
Her second flight was on Discovery (STS-120) October-November 2007. She operated the robotic arm again.
Her third and latest (hopefully not the last) mission was on back on Discovery (STS-131) in April 2010 as mission specialist. She participated in interviews while on board as well as operating the robotic arm.
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.
