Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt!

Jerome "Jay" Apt III, born April 28, 1949 in Springfield, Massachusetts, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.

HIs first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-37) as mission specialist in April 1995.  He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Jerry Ross for over 10 hours.

His second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-47) as mission specialist in September 1992.  The mission included two experiments prepared by an all-girls school in Kent, UK.

Apt's third mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-59) as mission specialist in April 1994.  He exchanged greetings with the cosmonauts aboard the Mir space station.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-79) as mission specialist to Mir in September 1996.  It was the first shuttle mission to dock with a completed Mir space station.

 

Steven Nagel, Space Shuttle astronaut, born October 27, 1946

Steven Nagel, born October 27, 1946 in Columbia, Missouri, went into space four times.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-G) as mission specialist in June 1985.  It was Shannon Lucid's first flight as well.

His second flight was aboard Challenger (STS-61-A) as pilot in October-November 1985.  It was the last successful flight of Challenger and holds the record for the largest crew - eight - aboard any since spacecraft for the entire mission.

His third mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-37) as commander in April 1991.  The mission included two EVAs, the first since 1985. 

His fourth and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-55) as commander in April-May 1993.  The mission hosted 88 experiments from 11 different nations.

He was married to fellow astronaut Linda Godwin.  

Nagel passed away in August 2014 from advanced melanoma.

Atlantis (STS-37) launched 1991

STS-37 crew

Front row (L-R): Kenneth Cameron, Steven Nagel, Linda Godwin

Back row (L-R): Jay Apt, Jerry Ross

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-37), launched April 5, 1991, carried the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory (CGRO) and the Chadra X-ray Observatory into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Steven Nagel, Pilot Kenneth Cameron, Linda Godwin, Jerry Ross and Jay Apt.

Ross and Apt conducted two EVAs during the mission for a total of more than 10 hours.  The crew returned to Earth April 11.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Linda Godwin!

Linda Godwin, born July 2, 1952 in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  After getting her doctorate in physics, she joined NASA in 1980 and became an astronaut in 1986.

Her first flight was on Atlantis (STS-37) as mission specialist in April 1991.

Her second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-59) as mission specialist in April 1994.  She assisted in photographing supersites, places NASA has identified to track a variety of contributors to track climate change.  She took clear pictures of Chickasha, Oklahoma(!), one of 19 supersites.

Her third mission was on Atlantis (STS-76) in March 1996 to the space station Mir, during which she performed the first U.S. spacewalk around two docked spacecraft with fellow astronaut Michael Clifford.

Her fourth and final mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-108) in December 2001.  She and fellow astronaut Daniel Tani completed a four hour, 12 minute spacewalk to install insulation on the International Space Station's main solar arrays.

Godwin was married to fellow astronaut Steven Nagel until his death in 2014.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jerry Ross!

Jerry Lynn Ross, born January 20, 1948 in Crown Point, Indiana, is a veteran of 7 space shuttle flights, tying Franklin Chang-Diaz for the most flights.

His first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-61-B) as mission specialist November-December 1985.  He performed 2 6-hour space walks to demonstrate space station construction techniques.

His second was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) in December 1988 as mission specialist. This trip was cut short due to critical heat-resistant tiles being damaged during liftoff.

During his third flight, back on Atlantis (STS-37) in April 1991, he performed two more EVAs to deploy the Gamma Ray Observatory antenna and test prototype software for the Space Station Freedom.

He served as Payload Commander/Mission Specialist on Columbia (STS-55) in April-May 1993.

He returned to space on Atlantis (STS-74) in November 1995 to space station Mir. 

In December 1998, he was on Endeavour (STS-88), which was the first International Space Station assembly mission.  Ross performed 3 EVAs totaling 21 hours 22 minutes to connect umbilicals and attach tools and hardware.

His final flight was on Atlantis (STS-110) April 2002, when he performed 2 EVAs for just over 14 hours.

Ross retired from NASA on January 28, 2012 being the first person to go into space 7 times.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Kenneth Cameron!

Kenneth Donald Cameron, born November 29, 1949 in Cleveland, Ohio, is a veteran of three Space Shuttle flights.  He became an astronaut in June 1985 and flew his first mission on Atlantis (STS-37) in April 1991 as pilot.

His second mission was on Discovery (STS-56) as commander in April 1993.  It was the first flight of Ellen Ochoa, first Latina in space.

His third and final mission was back on Atlantis (STS-74) as commander in November 1995.  It was the fourth mission of the Shuttle-Mir program and the second docking of the Space Shuttle with Mir.