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.

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.

Atlantis (STS-86) launched 1997

Front row (L-R): Michael Bloomfield, James Wetherbee, Wendy Lawrence; 

Back row: Jean-Loup Chrétien, Scott Parazynski, Vladimir Titov, Michael Foale.

(This picture must have been taken after the flight since Wolf is not in it.)

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-86), launched September 25, 1997, was the seventh shuttle mission to Mir and the last before Atlantis was taken out of service for maintenance and upgrades.  Its crew consisted of Commander James Wetherbee, Pilot Michael Bloomfield, Vladimir Titov (Roscosmos), Scott Parazynski, Jean-Loup Chretien (National Center for Space Studies), Wendy Lawrence and David Wolf.

Wolf replaced Michael Foale as the resident U.S. astronaut on Mir, the decision made only the night before the launch by NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin.  There had been political pressure on NASA to discontinue American astronauts on Mir after problems during Foale's residence and his predecessor Jerry Linenger. 

Parazynski and Titov conducted one EVA for about 5 hours.

The crew, with Foale instead of Wolf, landed October 6.

Happy birthday, French cosmonaut Jean Loup Chretien!

Jean-Loup Chretien, born August 20, 1938, is a French cosmonaut who has flown two Soyuz missions and one Space Shuttle flight.

His first mission was aboard Soyuz T-6 in June 1982 to Salyut 7.  It was the first time a Frenchman had flown in space.  He spent about a week in space before returning to Earth in early June.

His second mission was aboard Soyuz TM-7 in November 1988 to Mir.  He conducted an EVA with fellow cosmonaut Alexander Volkov, which lasted almost 6 hours.  He is the first non-American, non-Russian to walk in space.  He returned 24 days later aboard Soyuz TM-6.

His third and final mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) as mission specialist to Mir in September-October 1997.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Scott Parazynski!

Scott Parazynski, born July 28, 1961 in Little Rock, Arkansas, is a veteran of five space shuttle missions and seven spacewalks.

His first mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-66) as mission specialist in November 1994.  It was the last solo flight for Atlantis until 2009.  Until then, her missions were either to Mir or the International Space Station.

His second mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) as mission specialist to Mir September-October 1997.  He performed an EVA with fellow astronaut Vladimir Titov (Roscosmos) which lasted about 5 hours.

Parazynski's third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-95) as mission specialist in October-November 1998.  John Glenn made history by going into space at 77 years old on this trip.


His fourth flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-100) as mission specialist April-May 2001 to the International Space Station.  Parazynski performed two EVAs with fellow astronaut Chris Hadfield for a total of almost 15 hours.

Scott's fifth and final flight was on Discovery (STS-120) as mission specialist October-November 2007.   He conducted four EVAs, three with Douglas Wheelock, and one with Daniel Tani, for a total of 27 hours and 14 minutes.

Happy birthday, space shuttle astronaut Michael Bloomfield!

Michael Bloomfield, born March 16, 1959 in Flint, Michigan, is a veteran of three space shuttle flights.

His rookie flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-86) to Mir as pilot September-October 1997.

His second mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-97) to the International Space Station as pilot in December 2000.  The mission delivered supplies to the crew of the ISS.

His third and final flight was on Atlantis (STS-110) in April 2002 as commander.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut David Wolf!

David Wolf, born August 23, 1956, in Indianapolis, Indiana, is veteran of four space flights, one trip aboard Mir, seven EVA's and one ballot.  His first space shuttle mission was aboard Columbia (STS-58) in October 1993.  Also on that mission was Shannon "Right Stuff" Lucid, who was on her 4th trip into space.  (I wonder if she dozed off during launch?).

Wolf's second trip was on Atlantis (STS-86) in September 1997, which took him up to the space station Mir.  During his 128-day visit, he became the first American to cast a vote in a presidential election.  He returned to Earth on Endeavour (STS-89) January 1998.

His third trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-112), an eleven day mission to the International Space Station in October 2002.

His final trip (STS-127) was on Endeavor in July 2009 to the ISS.  The launch of the Endeavour was successful on its 6th attempt.