Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jay Apt!

Jerome "Jay" Apt III, born April 28, 1949 in Springfield, Massachusetts, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.

HIs first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-37) as mission specialist in April 1995.  He conducted two EVAs with fellow astronaut Jerry Ross for over 10 hours.

His second flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-47) as mission specialist in September 1992.  The mission included two experiments prepared by an all-girls school in Kent, UK.

Apt's third mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-59) as mission specialist in April 1994.  He exchanged greetings with the cosmonauts aboard the Mir space station.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-79) as mission specialist to Mir in September 1996.  It was the first shuttle mission to dock with a completed Mir space station.

 

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Thomas Akers!

Thomas Akers, born May 20, 1951 in St. Louis, Missouri, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.

His first mission was aboard Discovery (STS-41) as mission specialist in October 1990.  The main  objective of the mission was to deploy the Ulysses probe as part of the International Solar Polar Mission.

His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-49) as mission specialist in May 1992.  He performed two EVAs with fellow astronauts Pierre Thuot and Kathryn Thornton.

His third mission was back aboard Endeavour (STS-61) as mission specialist in December 1993.  He performed two more EVAs with Kathryn Thornton.

His fourth and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-79) as mission specialist in September 1996 to the space station Mir.

Atlantis (STS-79) launched 1996

STS-79 crew

Front Row (L-R): Jay Apt, Terrence Wilcutt, William Readdy, Thomas Akers, Carl Walz 

Back Row (L-R): Shannon Lucid, John Blaha

STS-79 mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-79), launched September 16, 1996, was the fourth mission of a space shuttle with the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander William Readdy, Pilot Terrence Wilcutt, Jay Apt, Thomas Akers, Carl Walz, and John Blaha. 

It was also the first transfer of American astronauts.  Atlantis picked up Shannon Lucid after her record-breaking stay in space and dropped off John Blaha as part of Mir EO-22.

They returned to Earth September 26.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Carl Walz!

Carl Walz, born September 6, 1955 in Cleveland, Ohio, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights. 

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51) as mission specialist in September 1993.  He and fellow astronaut Jim Newman performed an EVA to evaluate tools and procedures for a Hubble Telescope maintenance flight later in the year.

His second flight was aboard Columbia (STS-65) as mission specialist in July 1994.  The mission included the second flight of the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-2).

Walz's third mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-79) as mission specialist in September 1996.  Shannon Lucid returned from Mir after her record-breaking stay.

His fourth and final mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-108) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in December 2001.  Walz was part of Expedition 4.  He returned to Earth in June 2002 aboard Endeavour (STS-111).

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut William Readdy!

William Readdy, born January 24, 1952 in Quonset Point, Rhode Island, is a veteran of three space shuttle missions.  He graduated high school down the road here in McLean, Virginia and then got his Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy over here in Annapolis, Maryland.

His first flight was as mission specialist aboard Discovery (STS-42) in January 1992.

He served as pilot for his second mission on Discovery (STS-51) in September 1993, which was a servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

He was commander of his third and final spaceflight on Atlantis (STS-79) in September 1996, the first shuttle mission to arrive at a fully completed Mir space station.  His crew transferred almost two tons of supplies to Mir, including water generated by Atlantis' fuel cells.  The flight home brought Shannon Lucid back to Earth, after setting a record for an American in space at that time.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Terrence W. Wilcutt!

Terrence Wilcutt, born October 31, 1949 in Russellville, Kentucky, is a veteran of 4 space shuttle missions. (He shares his birthday with Michael Collins!) It seems four is the average number of flights for a space shuttle astronaut.  Does anybody know?  I'll have to check that out.

Anyway, Wilcutt's first flight was on Endeavour (STS-68) September 30-October 11, 1994 when he was pilot.

His second mission was on Atlantis (STS-79) in September 1996 also as pilot.  On this mission, they brought back Shannon Lucid from the space station Mir after her record breaking stay. 

He was commander on his third mission, which was on Endeavour (STS-89) in January 1998.  The crew flew to Mir again for another American astronaut exchange, the fifth of the program.

His fourth and final mission was back on Atlantis (STS-106) in September 2000.  He and the crew spent a week transferring equipment and supplies to the International Space Station, getting it ready for a permanent crew.

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Happy birthday, Michael Clifford, Space Shuttle astronaut

Michael "Rich" Clifford, born October 13, 1952 in San Bernadino, California, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights and one of the first astronauts to perform an EVA between two docked spacecraft.

His first trip to space was aboard Discovery (STS-53) in December 1992.  It was a mission supporting the Department of Defense.

His second flight was on Endeavour (STS-59) in April 1994. 

His third and final trip to space was aboard Atlantis (STS-76) in March 1996.  During this trip, he and fellow astronaut Linda Godwin performed the first EVA between two docked spacecraft, Atlantis and the space station Mir.

Clifford was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease in 1994.

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.