Happy birthday, astronaut Shane Kimbrough!

Robert "Shane" Kimbrough, born June 4, 1967 in Killeen, Texas, has been in space three times.

He graduated from the US Military Academy and flew Apache helicopters in the Operation Desert Storm. He joined NASA in 2000 and was part of the first group of astronauts selected following the Columbia disaster.

His first mission into space was aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-126) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in November 2008.  He conducted two EVAs, lasting a total of almost 13 hours.  He spent almost 16 days in space.

Kimbrough's second trip into space was aboard Soyuz MS-02 as flight engineer to the ISS in October 2016.  He participated in Expeditions 49-50.  He carried a soccer ball belonging to Ellison Onizuka, who died in the Challenger disaster to the ISS. He returned to Earth in April 2017, after over 173 days in space.

His third mission into space was aboard SpaceX Crew-2 as commander to the ISS in April 2021 to the ISS. He participated in Expeditions 65-66. He returned to Earth in November 2021, after more than 199 days in space, the longest US mission to date. 

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Sergey Ryzhikov!

Sergey Ryzhikov, born August 19, 1974, has spent about six months in space aboard the International Space Station. He served as commander of Soyuz MS-02, launched in October 2016.  He was part of the crew of Expedition 49, with fellow cosmonaut Andrei Borisenko and astronaut Robert Kimbrough.  He returned to Earth n April 2017.

Soyuz MS-02 launched 2016

Soyuz MS-02 crew (L-R):  Robert Kimbrough,  Sergey Ryzhikov and Andrey Borisenko

Mission patch

Soyuz MS-02, launched October 19, 2016, carried members of Expedition 49 to the International Space Station.  The crew consisted of Commander Sergey Ryzhikov, Andrey Borisenko and Robert Kimbrough (NASA).  Soyuz MS-02 docked with the Poisk, the Mini-Research Module 2 (MRM-2), a docking port installed by Russia added in 2009.

They stayed on board the ISS for 173 days, returning in April 2017.

Happy birthday, cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko!

Andrey Borisenko, born April 17, 1964 in Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Russia, has spent almost a year in space total aboard the International Space Station.

His first mission into space was as Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-21 (Gagarin) launched in April 2011 as part of Expeditions 27 and 28.  It was devoted to the 50th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin's historic first manned space mission.  He returned to Earth with his fellow astronauts September 16, 2011.  During re-entry, communications with the crew were lost and caused concern on the ground, but the crew landed safely.  A cause for the communications lost has not been determined.

His second and most recent mission was on Soyuz MS-02 as Flight Engineer, launched October 19, 2016 as part of Expeditions 49 and 50.  He returned to Earth April 10, 2017.  During re-entry, the capsule experience partial depressurization when a buckle that was part of the deployment system struck a welding seam.  Fortunately, this happened about 8 km (4.8 miles) above ground, so they were at a relatively safe altitude.