Kent Rominger, Space Shuttle astronaut, born 1956

Ken Rominger, born August 7, 1956 in Del Norte, Colorado, is a veteran of five space shuttle flights.  

His first flight was aboard Columbia (STS-73) as pilot in October 1995.  It was the second mission of the US Microgravity Laboratory.  

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-80) as pilot in November-December 1996. It was the longest Shuttle mission at 17 days, 15 hours and 53 minutes.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-85) as pilot in August 1997.  Rominger was originally not assigned to this flight, but replaced Jeffrey Ashby, who asked to be relieved in order to take care of his dying wife.

His fourth flight was aboard Discovery (STS-96) as commander to the International Space Station in May-June 1999.

His fifth and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-100) as commander to the ISS in April-May 2001.  The mission installed the Canadarm2 robotic arm.

Happy birthday, astronaut Catherine Coleman!

Catherine "Cady" Coleman, born December 14, 1960 in Charleston, South Carolina, has been into space three times.  She received a B.S. in Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a PhD in polymer science and engineering from University of Massachusetts.

Her first trip into space was aboard Columbia (STS-73) as mission specialist in October-November 1995. 

Her second trip was aboard Columbia (STS-93) as mission specialist in July 1999.  The main objective of this mission was the Chandra X-Ray Observatory.

Her third and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-20 launched in December 2010 to the International Space Station. She was part of Expeditions 26 and 27.  She returned to Earth in May 2011.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Kenneth Bowersox!

Kenneth Bowersox, born November 14, 1956 in Portsmouth, Virginia, is a veteran of five space shuttle missions. 

His first trip into space was aboard Columbia (STS-50) as pilot in June-July 1992.  The mission carried the first US Microgravity Laboratory into space.

His second trip was aboard Endeavour (STS-61) as pilot in December 1993.  It was the mission that corrected the Hubble Space Telescope's "spherical aberration".

His third trip was aboard Columbia (STS-73) as commander in October-November 1995.  He became the youngest person ever to command a space shuttle at 38 years, 11 months old.

His fourth trip was aboard Discovery (STS-82) as commander in February 1997.  It was the second mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

His fifth and final mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-113) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in November 2002.  He served as commander for Expedition 6 with fellow astronaut Donald Pettit and Nikolai Budarin (Roscosmos).  They returned to Earth in May 2003 aboard Soyuz TMA-1.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Kathryn Thornton!

Kathryn Thornton, born August 17, 1952 in Montgomery, Alabama is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  She obtained her PhD in physics from the University of Virginia in 1979.

Her first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-33) as mission specialist in November 1989.  It carried a classified payload from the Department of Defense into space.

Her second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-49) as mission specialist in May 1992.  It was the maiden voyage of the Endeavour.  She performed an EVA with fellow astronaut Thomas Akers which lasted 7 hours 44 minutes.

Her third flight was back on Endeavour (STS-61) as mission specialist in December 1993.  She and Akers performed two EVAs lasting over 13 hours total.

Her fourth and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-73) as mission specialist in October-November 1995.  It was the second mission of the US Microgravity Laboratory which studied the effects of the microgravity environment in space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Michael López-Alegría!

Michael Lopez-Alegria, born May 30, 1958 in Madrid, Spain, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and one Soyuz mission.  He was raised in Mission Viejo, California and became a Naval Aviator in 1981.  Part of his naval experience was over here at the NAS Patuxent River, Maryland.

His first mission in space was on Columbia (STS-73) October-November 1995 as mission specialist.

His second trip was on Discovery (STS-92) in October 2000 as mission specialist. He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Peter Wisoff.

His third shuttle mission was as mission specialist on Endeavour (STS-113) November-December 2002.  Lopez-Alegria conducted 3 more EVAs with fellow astronaut John Herrington.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-9, launched September 18, 2006 to the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 14.  He returned to Earth April 21, 2007.

He holds the second all-time record for EVA duration (67 hours, 40 minutes).  He has the third longest stay in space of American astronauts - 215 days.

Lopez-Alegria retired from NASA March 12, 2012.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Albert Sacco!

Albert Sacco, Jr., born May 3, 1949 in Boston, Massachusetts, went into space aboard Columbia (STS-73) as a payload specialist in October-November 1995.  He spent 16 days in space.

As of January 2011, he is a dean of the college of engineering at Texas Tech University.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Frederick Leslie!

Frederick Weldon Leslie, born December 19, 1951 in Ancon, Panama, flew on Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-73) as a payload specialist October-November 1995.  He graduated from Irving High School in Irving, Texas (the one that's on O'Connor a few blocks south of SH-183).  He got his Masters and PhD in meteorology at the University of Oklahoma.

Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month - Michael López-Alegría, first Spanish-born astronaut

Michael Lopez-Alegria, born in Madrid, Spain, moved to the U.S. with his parents when he was about two years old.  He grew up in southern California and has been on 3 Space Shuttle flights and one Soyuz mission.

His first mission was on board Columbia (STS-73) in October-November 1995 as a mission specialist.  His second flight was on Discovery (STS-92) in October 2000 also as a mission specialist.  His final flight was on Endeavour (STS-113) in November-December 2002.

In September 2006, Lopez-Alegria took off in Soyuz TMA-9 as Flight Engineer to the International Space Station where he became commander of Expedition 14.  He returned to Earth in April 2007.

Lopez-Alegriz holds the record for an American astronaut for number of EVAs (10) and total duration of EVAs (67 hours, 40 minutes - that's almost 3 days!).  He holds the second-longest record for total duration of EVAs for a human, behind only Anatoly Solovyev.