Richard Searfoss, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1956

Richard Searfoss, born June 5, 1956 in Mount Clemens, Michigan, was a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) as pilot in October 1993.  He and fellow astronaut John Blaha communictated with school children via an on-board ham radio.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-76) as pilot to Mir in March 1996.  It was the third space shuttle mission to Mir.

His third and final flight was back on Columbia (STS-90) as commander in April-May 1998.  It was the last flight of the European Space Agency's Spacelab module.

He passed away in September 2018.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut William McArthur!

William McArthur, born July 26, 1951 in Laurinburg, North Carolina, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one trip to the International Space Station.

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) as mission specialist October-November 1993. During the flight, he tested the Lower Body Negative Pressure device as a countermeasure for the detrimental effects of microgravity.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-74) as mission specialist in November 1995.  He inspected spacesuits that would be needed in case an EVA would be needed.  It wasn't.

McArthur's third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-92) as mission specialist in October 2000.  He performed two EVAs during the mission with fellow astronaut Leroy Chiao for a total time of 14 hours.

His fourth and final trip into space was aboard Soyuz TMA-7 as flight engineer to the ISS in October 2005- April 2006 as part of Expedition 12.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Martin Fettman!

Martin Fettman, born December 31, 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, has made one trip into space. 

His mission was aboard the space shuttle Columbia (STS-58) in October-November 1993 as payload specialist.  He was among the group that collected blood and urine samples from their fellow astronauts for a series of metabolic experiments. 

Fettman spent 14 days in space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Rhea Seddon!

Margaret Rhea Seddon, born November 8, 1947 in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, is one of the first group of astronauts to include women and is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.  She has a doctorate of medicine from the University of Tennessee and has served in hospitals in Mississippi and Tennessee. 

Selected as an astronaut in 1978, her first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) in April 1985 as mission specialist.  She logged 168 hours in space.

Her second mission was aboard Columbia (STS-40) in June 1991 as mission specialist. This flight was dedicated to life sciences with experiments involving cardiovascular/cardiopulmonary, renal/endocrine, blood, musculoskeletal, neurovestibular and immune systems.

Her third and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) in October-November 1993 as Payload Commander on another life science research mission, continuing many of the experiments began on STS-40.

She is married to former astronaut Robert Gibson.

Columbia (STS-58) launched 1993

Seated (L-R): David Wolf, Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon, Richard Searfoss; 

Standing (L-R): John Blaha, William McArthur, Martin Fettman

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-58), launched October 18, 1993, used for the first time the Portable In-Flight Landing Operations Trainer (PILOT) simulation software.  Its crew consisted of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Richard Searfoss, Rhea Seddon, William McArthur, David Wolf, Shannon Lucid and Martin Fettman.

PILOT was tested to be used as a tool to help the mission commander and shuttle pilot maintain proficiency for approach and landing. 

During the mission, Rhea Seddon sent a message to her husband astronaut Robert Gibson when she surpassed his total time of almost 633 hours.  Gibson teased that he had more launches than she did at the time.

Happy birthday, 6-time astronaut John Blaha!

John Elmer Blaha, born August 26, 1942 in San Antonio, made 6 trips to space aboard space shuttles and one four-month stay on Mir.

His first flight was on board Discovery (STS-29) in March 1989.  His second mission was also on Discovery (STS-33) in November 1989. His third mission (STS-43) was on Atlantis in August 1991.  The fourth was on Columbia (STS-58) in October 1993, during which they performed numerous medical experiments expanding our knowledge of human physiology in space.

His fifth flight took him to Mir on Atlantis (STS-79) in September 1996 where he would spend the next four months.  Atlantis brought Shannon Lucid home from Mir.

Blaha returned to Earth on Atlantis (STS-81) in January 1997.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut David Wolf!

David Wolf, born August 23, 1956, in Indianapolis, Indiana, is veteran of four space flights, one trip aboard Mir, seven EVA's and one ballot.  His first space shuttle mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) in October 1993.  Also on that mission was Shannon "Right Stuff" Lucid, who was on her 4th trip into space.  (I wonder if she dozed off during launch?).

Wolf's second trip was on Atlantis (STS-86) in September 1997, which took him up to the space station Mir.  During his 128-day visit, he became the first American to cast a vote in a presidential election.  He returned to Earth on Endeavour (STS-89) January 1998.

His third trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-112), an eleven day mission to the International Space Station in October 2002.

His final trip (STS-127) was on Endeavor in July 2009 to the ISS.  The launch of the Endeavour was successful on its 6th attempt.