Raja Chari, born June 24, 1977 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and raised in Cedar Falls, Iowa, went into space aboard SpaceX Crew-3 to the International Space Station. He graduated from the US Air Force Academy in 1999, and attended Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance AFB in Enid, Oklahoma. In December 2020, he was selected for the Artemis Team, to help pave the way back to the moon.
He was commander of the SpaceX Crew-3 in the Endurance, launched November 11, 2021 to the ISS. He participated in Expeditions 66-67 and conducted 2 EVAs, lasting a total of almost 14 hours, during his stay. Chari returned to Earth in May 2022 after 174 days in space.
Diedre Hall, born October 31, 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is best known for her work on Days of Our Lives, for which she has won numerous awards. However, I know her best as her role as Electra Woman on the Saturday morning TV show Electra Woman and Dyna Girl, a campy, low-budget superhero show that ran for 16 episodes in late 1976, with Judy Strangis as Dyna Girl. The show has become a cult classic.
She also appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote.
SS Edmund Fitzgerald, the largest ship on the Great Lakes at the time, sank in Lake Superior during a storm, November 10, 1975, resulting in the loss of her entire crew of 29. She left Superior, Wisconsin on November 9 under the command of Capt. Ernest McSorley, en route to Zug Island, near Detroit, Michigan.
The National Weather Service tracked a storm, but predicted it would pass south of Lake Superior. The next day, the NWS altered its forecast and reported that gale force winds were expected for Lake Superior.
Just after 3:30pm on Nov 10, Capt. McSorley radioed the Arthur M. Anderson, another cargo ship about 10 miles behind them, to say they were taking on water and they had developed a list. Winds of over 50 knots (58 mph) were observed as were waves up to 25 feet.
Arthur M. Anderson notified McSorley at about 7:10pm and the captain replied "We are holding our own." It was the last message heard from the Edmund Fitzgerald.
Four days later, the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald was located about 15 miles west of Deadman's Cove, Ontario, at a depth of 530 feet. She lay in two pieces with scattered wreckage around. Although the wreck has been extensively researched, there has not been a definitive reason given as to why she sank.
Gordon Lightfoot wrote and composed The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1976 and made it to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Deidre Hall, born October 31, 1947 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has won numerous awards for her performances in Days of Our Lives.
But before that she was Electra Woman! She appeared in the Saturday morning live-action superhero show Electra Woman and Dyna Girl with Judy Strangis. She also appeared in Murder, She Wrote, but did not have any scenes with Angela Lansbury. Bummer.
Sputnik 4, launched May 15, 1960 from the Soviet Union, was the first Vostok spacecraft. It was unmanned, but served as a test for the first human spaceflight. A guidance error sent it into a higher orbit than intended. The descent module ree-entered the atmosphere on September 6, 1962. A piece weighing 20 pounds was found in Manitowoc, Wisconsin by two police officers.
The remaining module re-entered the atmosphere on October 15, 1965.
Mark Lee, born August 14, 1952 in Viroqua, Wisconsin, is a veteran of four space shuttle flights.
His first flight was on Atlantis (STS-30) as mission specialist in May 1989. The main objective of the mission was to deploy the Magellan spacecraft to Venus.
His second mission was on Endeavour (STS-47) as mission specialist in September 1992. Also on board was Lee's then-wife Jan Davis, whom he had married secretly a few weeks prior to the flight. NASA was forced to waive the rule about married couples not assigned to the same mission. Lee and Davis later divorced.
Lee's third flight was on Discovery (STS-64) as mission specialist in September 1994. Lee conducted an EVA with fellow astronaut Carl Meade for almost 7 hours.
Lee's fourth and final mission was again on Discovery (STS-82) as mission specialist in February 1997. He conducted 3 EVAs with fellow astronaut Steven Smith lasting over 19 hours total.
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.
Tammy Baldwin, born February 11, 1962 in Madison, Wisconsin, is the first openly LGBT person to be elected to the U.S. Senate. In 1992, she ran for Wisconsin's 78th Assembly District and won, becoming one of six openly gay candidates to win public office in 1992. She got re-elected 3 times.
When Representative Scott Klug announced he would retire in 1998, Baldwin ran for his seat and defeated the Republican candidate in the general election, becoming the first openly gay woman elected to the House of Representatives.
In 2011, she announced her candidacy for the U.S. Senate and won the election on November 19, 2012, becoming the first openly gay U.S. Senator in history.
Marc Alaimo, born May 5, 1942 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is probably best known for his role as Gul Dukat in the television series Star Trek: Deep Space 9. According to imdb.com, he has more distinct roles than anyone else in the Star Trek universe: two different humans, two different Cardassians, an Antican and a Romulan.
He has also one of six actors to appear in ten different seasons of Star Trek series.
Leroy Chiao, born August 28, 1960 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, is a veteran of 3three Space Shuttle flights and one Soyuz mission to the International Space Station. He received a PhD in chemical engineering from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1987.
His first mission was on board Columbia (STS-65) in July 1994, which carried the first Japanese woman in to space, Chiaki Mukai.
Chiao's second trip was on board Endeavour (STS-72) in January 1996 and his third was aboard Discovery in October 2000 (STS-92). Since he was fluent in Mandarin Chinese, he studied Russian and flew to the International Space Station aboard Soyuz TMA-5, Expedition 10, in October 2004. He remained on the ISS until April 2005.
Here is some interesting footage of him experiencing strange lights during an EVA:
