Happy birthday, Space Shuttle astronaut Stephen Robinson!

Stephen Robinson, born October 26, 1955 in Sacramento, California, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.

His first flight was aboard Discovery (STS-85) as mission specialist in August 1997.  The mission lasted almost 12 days.

His second flight was again on Discovery (STS-95) as mission specialist in October-November 1998. One of his fellow astronaut was US Senator John Glenn, his second trip into space.

His third flight was aboard Discovery (STS-114) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in July-August 2005.  It was the "Return to Flight" space shuttle mission, the first following the Columbia disaster in 2003.

His fourth and final flight was aboard Endeavour (STS-130) as mission specialist to the International Space Station in February 2010. 

Discovery (STS-85) launched 1997

STS-85 crew 

Front row (L-R): Kent Rominger, Curtis Brown

Back row (L-R): Robert Curbeam, Stephen Robinson, Jan Davis, Bjami Tryggvason

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery, launched August 7, 1997, carried a number of experiments into space.  Its crew consisted of Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Kent Rominger (whose birthday is today), Jan Davis, Robert Curbeam, Stephen Robinson, and Bjami Tryggvason (CSA).

They returned to Earth on August 19. 

Endeavour (STS-130) launched 2010

STS-130 mission patch

Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-130), launched February 8, 2010, was the 10th flight of Endeavour to the International Space Station. Its crew consisted of Commander George Zamka, Pilot Terry Virts, Kathryn Hire, Stephen Robinson, Nicholas Patrick and Robert Behnken.

Patrick and Behnken performed 3 EVAs during the mission for a total of 18 1/2 hours.

They returned to Earth on February 22.

Discovery (STS-85) launched 1997

STS-85 crew:

Seated (L-R): Kent Rominger, Curtis Brown

Standing (L-R): Robert Curbeam, Stephen Robinson, Nancy Jan Davis, Bjarni Tryggvason

Mission patch

Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-85) blasted off August 7, 1997 with the first Icelandic-born astronaut, Bjarni Tryggvason, payload specialist.  The rest of the crew consisted of Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Kent Rominger, Nancy Jan Davis, Robert Curbeam, and Stephen Robinson.  Tryggvason was an astronaut from the Canadian Space Agency. 

This was the fourth cooperative mission between the German Space Agency and NASA.  The crew returned to Earth August 19, a day later than scheduled due to fog at the Kennedy Space Center.

Discovery (STS-114) launched 2005

Back (L-R): Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Charles Camarda, Soichi Noguchi 

Front (L–R): James Kelly, Wendy Lawrence, Eileen Collins

STS-114 mission patch

Discovery (STS-114), launched July 26, 2005 to the International Space Station, was the "Return to Flight", the first space shuttle mission following the Columbia disaster in 2003.  During Discovery's liftoff, video footage showed a piece of debris separating from the external tank, which was caused the Columbia disaster.  As a result, NASA decided to postpone future flights until they could modify the design.  Shuttle flights resumed a year later in July 2006.

STS-114's crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James Kelly, Soichi Noguchi (JAXA), Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Wendy Lawrence, and Charles Camarda.  It was the second mission to be commanded by a woman, Eileen Collins, who also commanded STS-93. 

Three EVAs were performed by Robinson and Noguchi. 

Space Shuttle Discovery "Return to Flight" launched 2005

STS-114 Crew - Back row (L-R): Stephen Robinson, Andrew Thomas, Charles Camarda, Soichi Noguchi.

Front Row (L-R): James Kelly, Wendy Lawrence, Eileen Collins

Space Shuttle Discovery blasted off July 26, 2005, the “Return to Flight” since it was the first space shuttle mission since the Columbia disaster in 2003.  During the launch, video footage showed debris separating from the external tank.  NASA decided to postpone future flights until they could make additional modifications to the hardware.  Shuttle flights resumed on July 4, 2006 but part of that delay was due to Hurricane Katrina.

Its crew consisted of Commander Eileen Collins, Pilot James M. Kelly, Mission Specialist 1 Soichi Noguchi (courtesy of the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency or JAXA), Mission Specialist 2 Stephen K. Robinson, Mission Specialist 3 Andrew S. W. Thomas (first Aussie in space back in 1996), Mission Specialist 4 Wendy B. Lawrence and Mission Specialist Charles J. Camarda.

They performed 3 EVAs over the course of 8 days, 19 hours and 54 minutes.

John Glenn returns to space 1998

Space Shuttle Discovery Crew - Back row: Mission Specialist 2 Scott E. Parazynski, Payload Specialist 1 Chiaki Mukai, Mission Specialist 1 Pedro Duque, Payload Specialist 2 John H. Glenn, Jr.

Front row: Pilot Steven W. Lindsey, Commander Curtis L. Brown, Jr.

Astronaut and senator John Glenn returned to space on board the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-95), October 29, 1998.  He became the oldest man to date to go into space.  Also aboard was Pedro Duque of Spain, the country's first astronaut.  The rest of the crew consisted of Commander Curtis Brown, Pilot Steven Lindsey, Scott Parazynski, Stephen Robinson and Chiaki Mukai.

Glenn made history as part of NASA's Mercury project to become the first American to orbit Earth. in the Friendship 7 in 1962.  His second return to space was at the age of 77 as a payload specialist.  NASA conducted experiments on Glenn while in space to give them an understanding of the effects of space on aging.