Happy birthday, astronaut Douglas Hurley!

Douglas Hurley, born October 21, 1966 in Endicott, New York, has been in space three times.  

His first flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-127) as pilot to the International Space Station in July 2009.  When they docked at the ISS, they set a record for the most humans in space at the same time, at thirteen.

His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-135) as pilot to the ISS in July 2011.  It was the final flight of the Space Shuttle program.

His latest flight was aboard SpaceX's Endeavour, the first crewed test flight of the Crew Dragon spacecraft, to the ISS in May 2020.  He and fellow astronaut Bob Behnken participated in Expedition 63.  They returned to Earth on August 2, 2020.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Rex Walheim!

Rex Walheim, born October 10, 1962 in Redwood City, California, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions. He obtained the rank of second lieutenant in the Air Force in May 1984.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-110) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in April 2002.  The mission's main objective was to install the S0 Truss segment, which forms the back bone of the ISS.

His second mission was again aboard Atlantis (STS-122) as mission specialist to the ISS in February 2008.  Walheim conducted 3 EVAs with fellow astronauts Stanley Love and Hans Schlegel for over 21 hours.

His third and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-135) as mission specialist to the ISS in July 2011.  It was the final flight of the Space Shuttle program.

Atlantis (STS-132) launched 2010

STS-132 crew

Seated front: Ken Ham

Seated back (L-R): Garrett Reisman, Stephen Bowen

Standing back row (L-R): Michael Good, Dominic Antonelli, Piers Sellers

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-132), launched May 14, 2010, was the penultimate flight of Atlantis.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kenneth Ham, Pilot Dominic Antonelli, Garrett Reisman, Michael Good, Stephen Bowen, and Piers Sellers.

The primary mission was to deliver the Russian Rassvet Mini-Research Module to the International Space Station.

Reisman, Bowen, and Good performed three EVAs for a total of over 20 hours.  The crew returned to Earth May 26.

This was to be the last flight of Atlantis but NASA declared that Atlantis would fly the final mission of the entire space shuttle program, STS-135.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Sandra Magnus!

Sandra Hall Magnus, born October 30, 1964, in Belleville, Illinois, is the veteran of 4 space shuttle flights and one expedition on the International Space Station.  Her first mission was on Atlantis (STS-112) in October 2002 as a mission specialist.

Her second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-126) in November 2008 to the International Space Station where she remained for 134 days.  She returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-119 [I don't know why the mission numbers are out of sequence]) in March 2009, the first flight for Joe Acaba (back on the ISS).

Her third and final mission was on Atlantis (STS-135) which was the last mission of the Space Shuttle Program July 2011.

Atlantis (STS-135) launches, Space Shuttle program's final mission, 2011

The Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-135) launched on July 8, 2011 on the last mission of the Space Shuttle program.  Four astronauts, the first four person crew in 28 years, delivered a payload to the International Space Station.  They returned to Earth July 21, closing the chapter on the Space Shuttle program.

Crew: Commander Christopher Ferguson, Pilot Douglas Hurley, Mission Specialist 1 Sandra Magnus, Mission Specialist 2 Rex Walheim