Samuel Chao Chung Ting, born January 27, 1936 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the first U.S.-born Asian American to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976. Ting, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared the prize with Burton Ricther of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for the discover of the J/psi nuclear particle.
In 1995, Ting proposed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic ray detector and has been working on its development ever since. A prototype was flown on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91) in 1998. The main mission was scrubbed after the Columbia disaster in 2003. Dr. Ting successfully lobbied the US Congress to secure a space shuttle flight to carry the AMS-02. It was launched on Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) and installed on the International Space Station in May 2011.
Gregory Chamitoff, born August 6, 1962 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, has been in space twice.
His first trip was aboard Discovery (STS-124) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in May 2008. He participated in Expeditions 17 and 18 spending about six months on the space station. He returned to Earth aboard Endeavour (STS-126) in November.
His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) to the International Space Station in May-June 2011. He spent almost 16 days in space. It was the last flight of Endeavour.
Michael "Spanky" Fincke, born March 14, 1967 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has been in space three times.
Fincke's first trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-4 as flight engineer in April 2004 to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 9. He conducted four EVAs during the mission. He returned to Earth in October 2004, after over 187 days in space.
His second trip was aboard Soyuz TMA-13 as flight engineer to the ISS in October 2008. He was part of Expedition 18 and conducted 2 EVAs during the expedition. He returned to Earth in April 2009.
His third flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) as mission specialist to the ISS in May 2011. He conducted 3 EVAs during the mission. He returned wiht the rest of the crew in June.
He has been selected to fly on the first crewed flight of the CST-100 Starliner, Boeing's capsule for participating in NASA's Commercial Crew Development program. When he does, he will become the first astronaut since John Young to fly into space aboard three different launch vessels.
Roberto Vittori, born October 15, 1964 in Viterbo, Lazio, Italy, is an astronaut with the European Space Agency and a veteran of three space flights.
His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz TM-34, launched in April 2002 as flight engineer to the International Space Station. He returned to Earth about two weeks later on Soyuz TM-33.
His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-6, launched in April 2005 as flight engineer to the ISS. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-5 later that month. He became the first European astronaut to visit the ISS twice.
His third flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) May-June 2011 as mission specialist to the ISS, the next to last flight of the space shuttle project. Vittori was the last non-American to fly on a space shuttle.
Andrew "Drew" Feustel, born August 25, 1965 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is an astronaut for NASA, a veteran of two space shuttle missions, and is currently commander of the International Space Station.
His first mission into space was aboard Atlantis (STS-125) in May 2009 as mission specialist. It was the fifth servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.
His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-134) as mission specialist. This was the next to last flight of the space shuttle program.
He is currently on his third mission and is commander of Expedition 56. He blasted off on Soyuz MS-08 to the International Space Station, initially as part of Expedition 55. He will return to Earth sometime this month.
STS-134 crew (L-R): Andrew Feustel, Michael Fincke, Mark Kelly, Greg H. Johnson, Greg Chamitoff, Roberto Vittori
Mission patch
Endeavour launched its final mission (STS-134), May 16, 2011. It was the next to last shuttle flight of NASA's Space Shuttle program. Originally thought to be the last flight, NASA decided in February 2011 that STS-135 would fly regardless of the funding situation.
Its crew was Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Greg H. Johnson, Michael Fincke, Roberto Vittori, Andrew Feustel and Gregory Chamitoff. Four EVAs were completed by three astronauts during the flight. Drew Feustel, Greg Chamitoff and Michael Fincke spent a total of 28 hours and 44 minutes outside the ISS.
Gregory H. Johnson, born May 12, 1962 in South Ruislip, Greater London, United Kingdom, is the veteran of two space shuttle flights.
His first flight was on Endeavour (STS-123) in March 2008 to the International Space Station. The mission set a record for the longest shuttle stay at the ISS, at just over 15 days, 18 hours.
His second and final flight was on back on Endeavour (STS-134) as pilot in May-June 2011 to the ISS. It was the next to last flight of the space shuttle program.
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.
