Steven Nagel, Space Shuttle astronaut, born October 27, 1946

Steven Nagel, born October 27, 1946 in Columbia, Missouri, went into space four times.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-51-G) as mission specialist in June 1985.  It was Shannon Lucid's first flight as well.

His second flight was aboard Challenger (STS-61-A) as pilot in October-November 1985.  It was the last successful flight of Challenger and holds the record for the largest crew - eight - aboard any since spacecraft for the entire mission.

His third mission was aboard Atlantis (STS-37) as commander in April 1991.  The mission included two EVAs, the first since 1985. 

His fourth and final mission was aboard Columbia (STS-55) as commander in April-May 1993.  The mission hosted 88 experiments from 11 different nations.

He was married to fellow astronaut Linda Godwin.  

Nagel passed away in August 2014 from advanced melanoma.

Atlantis (STS-76) launched 1996

STS-76 crew

Front row (L-R): Ronald Sega, Kevin Chilton, Richard Searfoss

Back row (L-R): Michael Clifford, Shannon Lucid, Linda Godwin

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-76), launched March 22, 1996, was the third Shuttle mission to dock with the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Kevin Chilton, Pilot Richard Searfoss, Ronald Sega, Michael Clifford, Linda Godwin and Shannon Lucid.

Godwin and Clifford performed a space walk on March 27 which lasted 6 hours.  Shannon Lucid stayed on board Mir as part of Expedition Mir EO-21.

The rest of the crew returned to Earth March 31.

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.

STS-51-G launched 1985

STS-51-G crew:

Front Row (L-R): Daniel Bradenstein, John Creighton

Back Row (L-R): Shannon Lucid, Steven Nagel, John Fabian, Saiman Al Saud, Patrick Baudry

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-51-G), launched June 17, 1985, carried Sultan Saiman Al Saud of Saudi Arabia into orbit.  He is the first Arab, first Muslim and the first member of a royal family to travel into space.

The entire crew consisted of Commander Daniel Brandenstein, Pilot John Creighton, John Fabian, Steven Nagel, Shannon Lucid, Patrick Baudry, and Saud (Royal Saudi Air Force).  During the mission, the Arabsat-1B (Arab Satellite Communications Organization) was deployed.

They returned to Earth June 24.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut John Fabian!

John McCreary Fabian, born January 28, 1939 in Goose Creek, Texas, is a veteran of two space shuttle missions.  He joined the US Air Force in 1962, and received flight training at Williams Air Force Base in Arizona.

His first mission into space was aboard Challenger (STS-7) in June 1983 as mission specialist.  Sally Ride was on board as the first U.S. female astronaut.  Ronald Reagan, then President, sent Jelly Belly jelly beans with the astronauts, the first jelly beans in space.

Fabian's second and final mission was aboard Discovery (STS-51-G) in June 1985 as mission specialist.  It was the first flight for Shannon Lucid and the only flights for Patrick Baudry (CNES) and Sultan Salman al Saud, the first Arab, first Muslim and first royal astronaut.

Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Daniel Brandenstein!

Daniel Brandenstein, born January 17, 1943 in Watertown, Wisconsin, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.  After college, he went in the US Navy and became a naval aviator.

His first flight was on Challenger (STS-8) as pilot in August-September 1983.  One of the mission's objective was to test the use of the Canadarm remote manipulator system to do some testing on the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite, which had been launched previously.

He served as commander on his second flight, Discovery (STS-51-G) in June 1985.  It was also the first flight for Shannon Lucid and Sultan Salman Al Saud of the Royal Saudi Air Force.

His third flight was aboard Columbia (STS-32) as commander in January 1990.  This mission deployed and captured satellites during its time in space.

Brandenstein's fourth and last flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-49) as commander in May 1992.  It took three astronauts in EVA to retrieve a communications satellite.

Columbia (STS-58) launched 1993

Seated (L-R): David Wolf, Shannon Lucid, Rhea Seddon, Richard Searfoss; 

Standing (L-R): John Blaha, William McArthur, Martin Fettman

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-58), launched October 18, 1993, used for the first time the Portable In-Flight Landing Operations Trainer (PILOT) simulation software.  Its crew consisted of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Richard Searfoss, Rhea Seddon, William McArthur, David Wolf, Shannon Lucid and Martin Fettman.

PILOT was tested to be used as a tool to help the mission commander and shuttle pilot maintain proficiency for approach and landing. 

During the mission, Rhea Seddon sent a message to her husband astronaut Robert Gibson when she surpassed his total time of almost 633 hours.  Gibson teased that he had more launches than she did at the time.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Yury Usachov!

Yury Usachov, born October 9, 1957 in the former Soviet Union, is a veteran of four space flights, including two on Soyuz spacecraft and two on space shuttles.

Usachov's first trip into space was aboard Soyuz TM-18 in January 1994 as part of the Mir EO-15 crew.  He performed EVAs to assess potential damage done to Mir when Soyuz TM-17 hit the space station twice while leaving.  They found no damage.  He returned to Earth in July 1994.

His second trip to space was aboard the Soyuz TM-23 spacecraft in February 1996 as part of the Mir EO-21 crew.  Shannon Lucid joined him for part of his stay.  He returned to Earth September 1996.

Usachov's third mission was on Atlantis (STS-101) in May 2000 as mission specialist to the International Space Station.  The mission lasted almost 10 days.

His fourth and final trip into space was aboard Discovery (STS-102) in March 2001 to the ISS.  He was the commander of Expedition 2, which lasted until August, when he returned to Earth on Discovery (STS-105).

Over the course of his career, he has performed seven EVA and has spent 553 days in space.

Atlantis (STS-43) launched 1991

STS-43 crew (L-R): Shannon Lucid, James Adamson, John Blaha, David Low, Michael Baker

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-43), the ninth mission for this shuttle, was launched August 2, 1991 to deploy the fourth Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS-5).  Its crew consisted of Commander John Blaha, Pilot Michael Baker, Shannon Lucid, David Low and James Adamson.

Other than the deployment of the TDRS-5, the crew remained busy with a variety of experiments throughout the nine-day mission.

They returned to Earth on August 11.

Soyuz TM-23 launched 1996

Soyuz TM-23 crew: Yuri Onufrienko, Yury Usachov

Soyuz TM-23, launched February 21, 1996, was the 25th manned mission to the space station Mir.  Its crew consisted of Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Flight Engineer Yury Usachov.  It docked with Mir on February 23, and joined expedition EO-21 which included Shannon Lucid.

They performed an EVA on March 15, the second on May 20, a third May 24, the fourth on May 30, the fifth on June 6 and the final one on June 13. 

Soyuz TM-23 undocked from Mir on September 2 and returned to Earth with Claudie Andre-Deshays on board.

Mir Space Station launched 1986

Mir space station, as seen from Space Shuttle Endeavour during the STS-89 mission February 1998 

Mir insignia patch

Mir space station, launched February 19, 1986, was the next step in the Soviet space program following the Salyut project.  It was the first modular space station and it was assembled in orbit over the following ten years until 1996.  It became the first continuously inhabited long-term research station at 3,644 days, until the International Space Station surpassed its record in October 2010.

Over the course of its existence, it was visited by astronauts from France, UK, Austria, Germany and Slovakia.  The U.S. and the Russians cooperated in the Mir-Space Shuttle program in the 1990s.  Shannon Lucid recorded the longest stay for a woman on Mir.

During its lifetime, Mir hosted 28 expeditions and saw 80 EVAs.

It was decommissioned and re-entered Earth’s atmosphere March 21, 2001.

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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Galileo probe, launched from Atlantis, 1989

The Galileo probe to Jupiter wa launched from the Space Shuttle Atlantis, October 18, 1989, a mere 6 hours after take-off.  The STS-34 mission crew consisted of Commander Donald Williams, Pilot Michael McCulley, Shannon Lucid(!), Franklin Chang-Diaz (remember him?) and Ellen Baker.

Galileo became the first spacecraft to orbit and fly into the atmosphere of an outer planet.

Ellen Baker, a medical doctor, studied the effectiveness of anti-motion sickness medication in space.  I'm sure some of those early cosmonauts wished they had some of that.

The wake-up calls included Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, Centerfield by John Fogerty, Fly Like an Eagle by the Steve Miller Band and the OU Fight Song (Shannon!).

The original date of the launch was scheduled for October 12, which was the first day of the optimum window to launch a spacecraft directly to Jupiter, but they had to replace a faulty main engine controller on Engine No. 2.  The date was re-set to October 17, but the crew wanted to get Billy Joel's new album Storm Front, which was released that day, so they took off on October 18.

(Not really)

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.

Happy birthday, Shannon Lucid!

Shannon Lucid, born January 14, 1943 in Shanghai, China, set a record for length of time in space and the longest time for an American woman (the only American woman) serving on the space station Mir.

Her record for longest stay in space held until 2007 when it was broken by another American woman, Sunita Williams.

Shannon Lucid returns to Earth after 188 days in space 1996

Oklahoman Shannon Lucid set a record for the longest single-mission spaceflight endurance record on the Russian space station Mir. She spent 188 days, returning to Earth on September 26, 1996.  While on board, she traveled 75.2 million miles.

Shannon took off on the Space Shuttle Atlantis March 22, 1996.  It was the 16th mission for Atlantis and the third Shuttle mission to dock with Mir.   She returned on Atlantis on its next space flight which took off September 16.

Lucid was inducted into the Oklahoma Woman's Hall of Fame in 1993.