Celebrating Asian American, Native Hawai'ian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month: Samuel Ting, first Asian-American recipient of Nobel Prize in Physics

Samuel Chao Chung Ting, born January 27, 1936 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the first U.S.-born Asian American to win the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1976.  Ting, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, shared the prize with Burton Ricther of the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center for the discover of the J/psi nuclear particle. 

In 1995, Ting proposed the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, a cosmic ray detector and has been working on its development ever since. A prototype was flown on Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91) in 1998.  The main mission was scrubbed after the Columbia disaster in 2003.  Dr. Ting successfully lobbied the US Congress to secure a space shuttle flight to carry the AMS-02.  It was launched on Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-134) and installed on the International Space Station in May 2011.

Discovery (STS-91) launched 1998

STS-91 crew

Front row (L-R): Dominic Gorie, Charles Precourt

Back row (L-R): Wendy Lawrence, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Janet Kavandi, Valery Ryumin, Andrew Thomas

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-91), launched June 2, 1998, was the final mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Charles Precourt, Pilot Dominic Gorie, Franklin Chang-Diaz, Wendy Lawrence, Janet Kavandi and Valery Ryumin (Roscosmos).

Andrew Thomas joined the crew of Discovery, after he had spent 130 days on Mir.  They returned to Earth June 12.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Valery Ryumin!

Valery Ryumin, born August 16, 1939 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of three Soyuz missions and one Space Shuttle flight.

His first mission into space was aboard Soyuz 25 in October 1977 as Flight Engineer.  It was the first mission to new Salyut 6, but after five attempts failed at engaging docking latches, the trip was aborted.  This led to a new rule such that every crew had to have at least one non-rookie on board.

His second flight was aboard Soyuz 32 to Salyut 6, launched in February 1979.  Although he and Commander Vladimir Lyakhov docked successfully, the visiting crew did not. The Soviets decided to have Soyuz 32 returned to Earth with no one aboard, to serve as a replacement vehicle.  They returned to Earth on Soyuz 34 in August.

Just eight months later, Ryumin was back in space aboard Soyuz 35 to Salyut 6. He spent 185 days in space, setting a new record for the time.  He returned to Earth October 1980 on Soyuz 37.

His final mission into space was aboard Discovery (STS-91) in June 1998.  It was the final Space Shuttle mission to the Mir space Station.

He is married to fellow cosmonaut Yelena Kondakova. 

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Charles Precourt!

Charles Precourt, born June 29, 1955 in Waltham, Massachusetts, is a veteran of four space shuttle missions.

His first flight was on Columbia (STS-55) as mission specialist April-May 1993.  It was the second flight to carry a German spacelab into orbit.

His second flight was as pilot on Atlantis (STS-71) June-July 1995.  It was the first of seven straight missions to Mir flown by Atlantis.

For his third mission, Precourt was named Commander on Atlantis (STS-84) in May 1997.  This was the sixth flight of the shuttle program to Mir.

He was commander for his fourth and final spaceflight on Discovery (STS-91) in June 1998.  It was the final flight to Mir.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Dominic Gorie!

Dominic Lee Pudwill Gorie, born May 2, 1957 in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is a veteran of four space shuttle missions.  He was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1994 and flew as pilot on his first mission on Discovery (STS-91) in June 1998, the final space shuttle mission to Mir.

He piloted Endeavour (STS-99) in February 2000.  It was the last solo flight of Endeavour, since the remainder of its missions were dedicated to the International Space Station.

Gorie's third mission was as commander of Endeavour (STS-108) in December 2001.  The mission's main purpose was to deliver Expedition 4 to the ISS and bring back Expedition 3.

His final mission was as commander on Endeavour (STS-123) in March 2008.  The flight set a record for the longest shuttle mission to the ISS.

Happy birthday, space shuttle astronaut Dr. Franklin Chang- Díaz!

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:

STS-61-C
STS-34
STS-46
STS-60
STS-75
STS-91
STS-111

He was inducted into the Astronaut Hall of Fame May 5, 2012.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Andy Thomas!

Andrew Sydney Withiel Thomas, born December 18, 1951, is the first Australian-born professional astronaut in space.  Fellow countryman Paul Scully-Power was the first Aussie in space but he was an oceanographer.  Thomas has flown on 5 shuttle missions, including time spent on Mir.

His first mission was on Endeavour (STS-77) May 1996 as a Mission Specialist. On January 23, 1998, he took off on Endeavour (STS-89) and transferred to the Mir spacecraft where he spent four months.  He returned to Earth in May aboard Discovery (STS-91).

In March 2001, he flew on Discovery (STS-102) to the International Space Station for resupplying and rotating Expedition 1 and Expedition 2 crews. 

His fifth and final flight was aboard Discovery (STS-114) for NASA's "Return to Flight" mission July-August 2005.  It was the first space shuttle mission following the Columbia disaster.

Thomas retired from NASA in February 2014.