Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Richard Richards!

Richard Richards, born August 24, 1946 in Key West, Florida, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.

His first flight was aboard Columbia (STS-28) as pilot in August 1989.  The mission was dedicated to the Department of Defense.

His second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-41) as commander in October 1990.  The primary mission was the deployment of the Ulysses probe.

His third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-50) as commander in June-July 1992.  It was the first time the US Microgravity Laboratory was taken into orbit.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-64) as commander in September 1994.  The mission saw the first untethered EVA in ten years.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Brewster Shaw!

Brewster Shaw, born May 16, 1945 in Cass City, Michigan, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions.

His first flight was aboard Columbia (STS-9) as pilot in November-December 1983.  It was the first flight of the Spacelab laboratory module.

His second flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-61-B) as commander November-December 1985.  The mission deployed three communications satellites.

His third and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-28) as commander in August 1989.  The mission carried a payload for the Dept of Defense in to orbit.

Shaw was inducted into the US Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut David Leestma!

David Leestma, born May 6, 1949 in Muskegon, Michigan, is a veteran of three space missions.

His first flight was aboard Challenger (STS-41-G) as mission specialist in October 1984.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Kathryn Sullivan which lasted 3 hours 29 minutes.  It was filmed as part of the IMAX movie The Dream Is Alive, which aired in 1985.

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-28) as mission specialist in August 1989.  It carried a payload for the US Department of Defense into orbit.  They returned to Earth on August 13.

His third and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as mission specialist in March-April 1992.  They carried an array of instruments, that were not to be deployed, into space.  They returned to Earth April 2.

Leestma is also a retired Captain in the US Navy.

Discovery (STS-29) launched 1989

Back row, L-R: James Bagian, Robert Springer, James Buchli. 

Front row, L-R: John Blaha, Michael Coats

Mission patch

Discovery (STS-29), launched March 13, 1989, was the twenty-eighth overall space shuttle mission, since the previous mission (STS-28) was delayed until August of that year. Its crew consisted of Commander Michael Coats, Pilot John Blaha, mission specialists Robert Springer, James Buchli and James Bagian. 

What?  They couldn't find a commander and another mission specialist with the initials "J. B."?

The mission included two Shuttle Student Involvement Program experiments.  One used four live rats with tiny pieces of bone removed from them to see how environmental effects of space flight affected bone healing.  The second involved 32 chicken eggs to see how space flight affected fertilized chicken embryos.

No word on the success of those experiments.

They returned to Earth March 18.

Happy birthday, space shuttle astronaut James Adamson!

James Adamson, born March 3, 1946 in Warsaw, New York, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights.  He was a military pilot in the Vietnam War and became an employee of NASA at the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center from 1981 to 1992.

His first shuttle flight was on Columbia (STS-28) in August 1989 as mission specialist.  It was a mission dedicated to the Department of Defense purposes.

His second mission was on Atlantis (STS-43) in August 1991, also as mission specialist.  Adamson retired from NASA in June 1992.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Mark Brown!

Mark Neil Brown, born November 18, 1951 in Valparaiso, Indiana, has flown on two Space Shuttle missions.

His first was on Columbia (STS-28) in August 1989 as mission specialist. The details of the mission are classified.

His second and last flight was on Discovery (STS-48) in September 1991, also as mission specialist.