Endeavour (STS-88) launched 1998

STS-88 crew

Front row (L-R): Sergei Krikalev, Nancy Currie-Gregg

Back row (L-R): Jerry Ross, Robert Cabana, Frederick Sturckow, James Newman

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-88), launched December 4, 1998, carried the first American module, Unity node, to the International Space Station.  Its crew consisted of Commander Robert Cabana, Pilot Frederick Sturckow, Jerry Ross, Nancy Currie-Gregg, James Newman, and Sergei Krikalev (Roscosmos).

Ross and Newman performed three EVAs for a total of over 21 hours, to complete the Unity node installation.

They returned to Earth December 13.  

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev!

Sergei Krikalev, born August 27, 1958 in Leningrad, Soviet Union (now St. Petersburg, Russia), is a veteran of six space flights.

His first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-7 as Flight Engineer to the space station Mir.  He participated in Mir EO-4, spending 151 days in space.

His second trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-12 as flight engineer to Mir in May 1991.  He participated in expedition Mir EO-9. He returned to Earth on Soyuz TM-13 in March 1992.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-60) as mission specialist in February 1994. He was the first cosmonaut aboard a Space Shuttle.

His fourth mission was aboard Endeavour (STS-88) as mission specialist in December 1998.  The mission took the Unity node to the ISS.

His fifth mission was aboard Soyuz TM-31 to the International Space Station in October 2000.  He participated in Expedition 1.  He returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001.

His sixth and final flight was aboard Soyuz TMA-6 as Commander in April 2005 to the International Space Station. where he participated in Expedition 11.  He returned to Earth in October. 

He has spent 803 days, 9 hours and 39 minutes in space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Frederick Sturckow!

Frederick Sturckow, born August 11, 1961 in La Mesa, California, flew on four space shuttle missions.

His first mission into space was aboard Endeavour (STS-88) as pilot in December 1998.  It was the first space shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

His second mission was aboard Discovery (STS-105) as pilot in August 2001.  It carried Expedition 3 to the ISS and returned with Expedition 2.

His third trip was aboard Atlantis (STS-117) as commander in June 2007.  He performed the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver (RPM), which is a "back flip" to allow the crew of the ISS to photograph the heat shields of the shuttle's belly.

Sturckow's fourth and final space shuttle mission was on Discovery (STS-128) as commander in August-September 2008.  It was the final mission to land at Edwards Air Force Base.

Sturckow retired from the Marine Corps as colonel in 2009.

Sturckow is currently test flying Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spacecraft as they prepare for commercial operations in outer space.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Robert Cabana!

Robert Cabana, born January 23, 1949 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  He became a naval aviator in the US Marine Corps.

His first flight was on Discovery (STS-41) in October 1990 as pilot.  The primary objective of the mission was to launch the Ulysses probe which was to study the polar regions of the sun. 

His second flight was again on Discovery (STS-53) and as pilot in December 1992.  It was a mission for the US Department of Defense.

Cabana's third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-65) in July 1994 as commander.  The crew conducted experiments from the space agencies from Japan, Canada, Germany and France as well as NASA and the ESA.

His fourth and final mission was on Endeavour (STS-88) in December 1998 as commander.  It was the first space shuttle mission to the International Space Station.

After he retired from being an astronaut he became director of the John F. Kennedy Space Center.

Zarya, International Space Station Core, launched 1998

The first building block of the International Space Station, the Zarya module, was launched November 20, 1998 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.  Two weeks later, the crew of STS-88 attached the Unity module to Zarya during spacewalks.

At this time, the Russian space station Mir was still occupied so the International Space Station remained uninhabited until Mir was deorbited.  Expedition 1, the first crew to the ISS, arrived in November 2000.  The crew members were  William Shepherd (NASA), Yuri Gidzenko and Sergei Krikalev (Roscosmos).

The ISS is now permanently manned and currently the crew of Expedition 57, Alexander Gerst (ESA), Serena Aunon-Chancellor (NASA) and Sergey Prokopyev (Roscosmos) is station there.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Joe Tanner!

Joseph Tanner, born January 21, 1950 in Danville, Illinois, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  His first trip into space was as mission specialist on Atlantis (STS-66) in November 1994.

His second trip was on board Discovery (STS-88) in February 1997 to service the Hubble Space Telescope.  He performed two EVAs totaling about 14 hours.

His third flight was on Endeavour (STS-97) in December 2000 to the International Space Station.  He and fellow astronaut Carlos Noriega conducted 3 EVAs for about 19 hours.

His fourth and final flight was back on Atlantis (STS-115) in September 2006 to the ISS, during which he performed a 5 hour 26 minute EVA.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Jerry Ross!

Jerry Lynn Ross, born January 20, 1948 in Crown Point, Indiana, is a veteran of 7 space shuttle flights, tying Franklin Chang-Diaz for the most flights.

His first flight was aboard Atlantis (STS-61-B) as mission specialist November-December 1985.  He performed 2 6-hour space walks to demonstrate space station construction techniques.

His second was aboard Atlantis (STS-27) in December 1988 as mission specialist. This trip was cut short due to critical heat-resistant tiles being damaged during liftoff.

During his third flight, back on Atlantis (STS-37) in April 1991, he performed two more EVAs to deploy the Gamma Ray Observatory antenna and test prototype software for the Space Station Freedom.

He served as Payload Commander/Mission Specialist on Columbia (STS-55) in April-May 1993.

He returned to space on Atlantis (STS-74) in November 1995 to space station Mir. 

In December 1998, he was on Endeavour (STS-88), which was the first International Space Station assembly mission.  Ross performed 3 EVAs totaling 21 hours 22 minutes to connect umbilicals and attach tools and hardware.

His final flight was on Atlantis (STS-110) April 2002, when he performed 2 EVAs for just over 14 hours.

Ross retired from NASA on January 28, 2012 being the first person to go into space 7 times.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Nancy Curie-Gregg!

Nancy Jane (Sherlock) Currie-Gregg, born December 29, 1958 in Wilmington, Delaware, is a veteran of four Space Shuttle flights.  She is a colonel in the U.S. Army.

Her first flight was on Endeavour (STS-57) as mission specialist June-July 1993. She operated the shuttle's robotic arm.

Her second flight was on Discovery (STS-70) in July 1995 as mission specialist.  She conducted biomedical and remote sensing experiments.

She traveled on Endeavour (STS-88) December 1998 as part of the International Space Station assembly.  She operated the robotic arm during space walks.

Col. Currie-Gregg's final mission was on Columbia (STS-109) in March 2002, to service the Hubble Space Telescope, again operating the shuttle's robotic arm.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut James Newman!

James Hansen Newman, born October 16, 1956 in what is now the Federated States of Micronesia, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  After obtaining his doctoral degree in physics from Rice University, he completed an additional year of post-doc work and began his astronaut training in July 1990.

His first space shuttle mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51) in September 1993. Although manay scientific experiements were carried out, the main focus of the mission was repairing the Hubble Telescope.  Newman and Carl Walz performed a 7-hour EVA as part of the Hubble repair.

His second flight was STS-69, aboard Endeavour in September 1995.  It was the 100th successful manned NASA flights, not counting X-15s. 

Newman's third mission was on Endeavour again (STS-88) in December 1998.  Newman performed 3 EVAs with Jerry Ross completing the Unity module which is the first U.S.-built component of the International Space Station. 

His final flight was on Columbia (STS-109) in March 2002.  He participated in 2 of 5 spacewalks on this mission to do additional repairs to the Hubble Space Telescope.