Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut James Wetherbee!

James Wetherbee, born November 27, 1952 in Flushing, New York, has been in space six times.

His first mission was aboard Columbia (STS-32) as pilot in January 1990.  It was the third night landing of the space shuttle program.

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-52) as commander in October-November 1992.  The mission involved projects with the Italian Space Agency and National Centre for Space Studies (France).   

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as commander in February 1995.  It was the second mission of the Space Shuttle/Mir program.  It was the first rendezvous of NASA's shuttle and the Mir space station.

His fourth flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) as commander to Mir in September-October 1997. It was the seventh Mir docking mission.

His fifth flight was aboard Discovery (STS-102) as commander to the International Space Station in March 2001.  The flight rotated Expeditions 1 and 2 and resupplied the ISS.

His sixth and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-113) as commander to the ISS in November-December 2002.  The mission rotated Expeditions 5 and 6. 

He left NASA in 2005.

Discovery (STS-63) launched 1995

STS-63 crew

First row (L-R): Janice Voss, Eileen Collins, James Wetherbee, Vladimir Titov

Back row (L-R): Bernard Harris, Michael Foale

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-63), launched February 3, 1995, was the first space shuttle rendezvous with the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Eileen Collins, Bernard Harris, Michael Foale, Janice Voss, and Vladimir Titov (Roscosmos).  It was the first flight to have a female pilot.

Foale and Harris performed an EVA for over 4 1/2 hours.

They returned to Earth February 11.

Happy birthday, British/American astronaut Michael Foale!

Michael Foale, born January 6, 1957 in Lincolnshire, England, is a veteran of six space missions.  He is the only NASA astronaut to have spent extended missions on Mir and the International Space Station.  He is the first Briton to perform a spacewalk and holds the record for time-in-space for a UK citizen.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-45) as mission specialist in March-April 1992.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-56) as mission specialist in April 1993.

His third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995.  It was the first space shuttle mission to dock with Mir.  He conducted his first EVA with fellow astronaut Bernard Harris, the first African-American astronaut to conduct an EVA.

His fourth mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-84) as mission specialist to Mir launched in May 1997.  He was part of expeditions Mir EO-23 and Mir EO-24.  He returned to Earth aboard Atlantis (STS-86) in October 1997.

His fifth flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) as mission specialist to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Claude Nicollier.

His sixth and final mission was aboard Soyuz TMA-3 to the ISS launched in October 2003 as part of Expedition 8.  He conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Aleksandr Kaleri. He returned to Earth in April 2004.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Vladimir Titov!

Vladimir Georgiyevich Titov, born January 1, 1947 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of four space flights.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz T-8 as commander to Salyut 7 in April 1983 but the spacecraft failed to dock and they had to return to Earth two days later.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz T-10-1, which was also a planned trip to Salyut 7 in September 1983, but the spacecraft exploded on the launch pad, and he and fellow cosmonaut Gennady Strekalov had to use the escape system.

His next attempt was successful.  He blasted off in Soyuz TM-4 as commander in December 1987 to the Mir space station, as part of Mir EO-3 expedition.  He remained aboard for a year and returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-6 in December 1988.

His third mission was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995 to Mir.

His fourth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) to Mir September-October 1997 as mission specialist.  He performed an EVA with fellow astronaut Scott Parazynski for about 5 hours.

Janice Voss, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1956

Janice E. Voss, born October 8, 1956 in South Bend, Indiana, was a veteran of 5 space shuttle missions. 

Voss' first mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-57) in June-July 1993 as mission specialist.  During the flight, the astronauts conducted numerous experiments inside the SpaceHab module.

Her second flight was aboard Discovery (STS-63) as mission specialist in February 1995, the first mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir program. 

Her third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-83) as mission specialist in April 1997.  The mission was cut short due to a problem with Fuel Cell #2.

Her fourth mission was aboard Columbia (STS-94) as mission specialist in July 1997.  This was the make-up flight for STS-83 which had to be cut short.

Voss' fifth and final mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-99) as mission specialist in February 2000.  It was the last solo mission of Endeavour, since the rest were devoted to the International Space Station.

Janice passed away in February 2012 from breast cancer.

Celebrating Black History Month - Bernard Harris, first African-American to walk in space

Bernard Harris, Jr., born June 26, 1956 in Temple, Texas, is a veteran of two space shuttle flights and is the first African-American to walk in space. 

His first mission was on Columbia (STS-55) in April-May 1993 as mission  specialist.

His second flight was on Discovery (STS-63) in February 1995 as mission specialist to the space station Mir, but didn't dock.  During this mission, he became the first African-American to walk in space.  His fellow astronaut, Michael Foale, with whom he performed the EVA, became the first Brit to walk in space. 

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Eileen Collins!

Eileen Marie Collins, born November 19, 1956 in Elmira, New York, is a veteran of four Space Shuttle flights.  She is the first female pilot for a space shuttle and first female commander of a space shuttle mission. Her parents immigrated from Ireland.

Her first flight was on Discovery (STS-63) in February 1995 as pilot, the first female to pilot the space shuttle.  She also piloted Atlantis (STS-84) in May 1997.

She served as commander aboard Columbia (STS-93) July 1999 for her third trip.  Her fourth and final trip was on Discovery (STS-114) July - August 2005.  During this last flight, Collins performed a backflip maneuver of Discovery so the crew of the International Space Station could check the hull for missing tiles.

How cool is that!