Happy birthday, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev!

Sergei Krikalev, born August 27, 1958 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia), is a veteran of six space flights.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-7 as Flight Engineer to the space station Mir.  He participated in Mir EO-4, spending 151 days in space.

His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-12 as flight engineer to Mir in May 1991.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-9. He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-13 in March 1992.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994. He was the first cosmonaut aboard a Space Shuttle.

His fourth mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-88) as mission specialist in December 1998.  The mission took the Unity node to the ISS.

His fifth mission was aboard Soyuz TM-31 to the International Space Station in October 2000.  He participated in Expedition 1.  He returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001.

His sixth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-6 as Commander in April 2005 to the International Space Station. where he participated in Expedition 11.  He returned to Earth in October. 

He has spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes in space.

Happy birthday, astronaut and NASA Administrator Charles Bolden!

Charles Bolden, born August 19, 1946 in Columbia, South Carolina, is a veteran of four space shuttle missions and a former NASA administrator.

His first trip into space was aboard Columbia (STS-61-C) as pilot in January 1986.  He was the second African-American to pilot a space shuttle.

His second trip was aboard Discovery (STS-31) as pilot in April 1990.  The mission launched the Hubble Space Telescope into orbit.

His third trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as commander in March-April 1992.  It was a nine-day mission of scientific experiments.

His fourth and final trip was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as commander in February 1994.  During the mission, the crew managed a link-up with the cosmonauts on Mir.

President Obama appointed Bolden as NASA's administrator in 2009.  He resigned from NASA in 2017.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle Kenneth Reightler!

Kenneth Reightler, born March 24, 1951 in Patuxent River, Maryland, has been to space twice.

His first trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-48) as pilot in September 1991.  The mission's main goal was to deploy the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite.

His second and final trip was aboard Discovery (STS-60) again as pilot in February 1994.  The mission carried the first cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev, to fly aboard a Space Shuttle.  The flight carried the Wake Shield Facilty into space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Ronald Sega!

Ronald Sega, born December 4, 1952 in Macedonia, Ohio, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994.  It was the first flight mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program. 

HIs second mission was on Atlantis (STS-76) in March 1996 also to the space station Mir as mission specialist. He has spent more than 17 days in space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jan Davis!

Jan Davis, born November 1, 1953 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

Her first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-47) as mission specialist in September 1992.  She had secretly married fellow astronaut Mark Lee just a few weeks before.  By the time NASA found out about it, it was too late to change their rule about "husband and wife" teams not flying on the same mission.

Her second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994.  It was the first Space Shuttle/Mir mission and the first time a Russian cosmonaut, Sergei Krikalev, flew on a space shuttle.

Her third and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-85) in August 1997.  She operated the shuttle's robotic arm for the entire trip.

Happy birthday, space shuttle astronaut Dr. Franklin Chang- Díaz!

I've written about Dr. Franklin Chang Diaz several times before since he has achieved a number of firsts for astronauts.  Born April 5, 1950 in San Jose, Costa Rica, he became an American citizen in 1977 and was selected as an astronaut in 1980.

He is the first Hispanic American astronaut and the third Latin American in space.  His grandfather fled China during the Boxer Rebellion, so Chang Diaz has Chinese ancestry as well.  He is tied with Jerry Ross for the most space shuttle missions, at seven:

STS-61-C
STS-34
STS-46
STS-60
STS-75
STS-91
STS-111

He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame May 5, 2012.

Discovery (STS-60) launched 1994

 

Clockwise from bottom left:  Kenneth Reightler, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Ronald Sega, Sergei Krikalev,  Jan Davis, Charles Bolden

Mission patch

The first mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program, Discovery (STS-60) was launched February 3, 1994.  Her crew consisted of Commander Charles Bolden Jr., Pilot Kenneth Reightler, Jr., Mission Specialist Jan Davis, Mission Specialist Ronald Sega, Mission Specialist Franklin Chang Diaz and Mission Specialist Sergei Krikalev, the first cosmonaut to fly on a U.S. Space Shuttle.

Several attempts were made to deploy the Wake Shield Facility, an experimental science platform, but problems arose each time.  It was finally deployed on a later space shuttle mission.

On February 7, Good Morning America performed a video hookup between Discovery (over the Pacific Ocean) and the three cosmonauts on Mir (over the southern United States).

Discovery returned to Earth February 11.