Maurizio Cheli, born May 4, 1959 in Zocca, Italy, was an astronaut for the European Space Agency and the Italian Space Agency. He went into space aboard Columbia (STS-75) as mission specialist in February-March 1996. He spent almost 16 days in space.
Andrew Allen, born August 4, 1955 in Richboro, Pennsylvania, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions. He obtained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in the US Marine Corps.
His first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-46) as pilot in July-August 1992. The mission deployed the Eruopean Space Agency's European Retrievable Carrier and the Tethered Satellite System, a joint project between NASA and the Italian Space Agency.
His second flight was as pilot on Columbia (STS-62) in March 1994 with fellow astronaut/birthday twin Charles Gemar.
His third and final flight was aboard Columbia (STS-75) as commander in February-March 1996. The mission was a reflight of the Tethered Satellite System.
Seated (L-R): Scott Horowitz, Andrew Allen, Franklin Chang-Diaz
Standing (L-R): Maurizio Cheli, Umberto Guidoni, Jeffrey Hoffman, Claude Nicollier
STS-75 mission patch
Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-75), launched February 22, 1996, carried the Tethered Satellite System Reflight (TSS-1R) into orbit. Its crew consisted of Commander Andrew Allen, Pilot Scott Horowitz, Jeffrey Hoffman, Maurizio Cheli (ESA), Claude Nicollier (ESA), Franklin Chang-Diaz, and Umberto Guidoni (Italian Space Agency).
The crew planned to deploy the tether to 20.7 km, but the tether broke when over 19 km were deployed. The porous material, which made up the innermost core, contained trapped bubbles of air at atmospheric pressure. In space, the air bubbles began to escape and changed the electrical conductivity of the tether, which essentially melted.
Franco Malerba, born October 10, 1945, went into space aboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-46) as payload specialist in July-August 1992. He is the first Italian citizen in space. He was part of the Tethered Satellite System project, which was a joint effort between NASA and the Italian Space Agency. However the satellite could not be deployed due to a tangled tether line and the project was scrubbed until STS-75 in 1996.
Claude Nicollier, born September 2, 1944, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights and Switzerland's first astronaut.
His historic first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-46) as mission specialist in July 1992. The mission's main objectives were to deploy the ESA's European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA) and the joint project between NASA and the Italian Space Agency, the Tethered Satellite System (TSS).
His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-61) as mission specialist in December 1993. Nicollier used Endeavour's robotic arm to capture and re-deploy the Hubble Space Telescope.
His third flight was on Columbia (STS-75) as mission specialist February-March 1996. The mission's main objective was to deploy another tethered satellite TSS-1R, a 'reflight' from STS-46.
Nicollier's fourth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-103) in December 1999, another servicing trip to the Hubble Telescope. Nicollier performed an EVA as part of the maintenance and repair of the Hubble.
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:
Scott J. Horowitz, born March 24, 1957 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a veteran of four space shuttle missions. He obtained a degree in engineering from California State University, Northridge and then a doctorate from Georgia Institute of Technology.
After completing the US Air Force Test Pilot School in 1990, he was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 1992.
His first mission was as pilot aboard Columbia (STS-75) February-March 1996. STS-75 also had the distinction of being the first flight with two Italians on board, Maurizio Cheli and Umberto Guidoni.
Horowitz served as pilot aboard Discovery (STS-82) in February 1997. It was NASA's second mission to the Hubble Space Telescope for repairs.
His third mission was on board Atlantis (STS-101) as pilot to the International Space Station in May 2000.
His fourth and final mission was as commander on Discovery (STS-105) to the ISS in August 2001.
Since October 2007, Horowitz has been an advocate for reorienting NASA's plans for the human exploration of Mars.
Jeffrey Alan Hoffman, born November 2, 1944 in Brooklyn, New York, is a veteran of 5 space shuttle flights and is the first Jewish astronaut from the United States.
His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-D) in April 1985, as mission specialist. Discovery landed at Kennedy Space Center but suffered major brake damage and blew out a tire so future shuttle flights had to land at Edwards Air Force Base until NASA could improve the brake assembly and make it safer.
His second mission was aboard Columbia (STS-35) in December 1990 also as mission specialist. He and fellow astronaut Sam Durrance conducted the first Space Classroom Program, designed to get children interested in math and science.
His third mission was on Atlantis (STS-46) in July-August 1992. He flew with the first Italian citizen in space, Franco Malerba.
His fourth flight was the first servicing mission to the Hubble Telescope, on Endeavour (STS-61) in December 1993. Launched 3 1/2 years previously, the Hubble Telescope had a "spherical abberation" that distorted images and rendered most of its data unuseable.
Hoffman's fifth and final flight was back on Columbia (STS-75) February-March 1996. He flew with two more Italian astronauts, Maurizio Cheli and Umberto Guidoni.
