Celebrating National Hispanic Heritage Month: Christopher Loria, retired Hispanic astronaut

Christopher Loria, born July 9, 1960 in Newton, Massachusetts, is a retired NASA astronaut.  He was scheduled to pilot the Space Shuttle Endeavour (STS-113) in November 2002, but a serious back injury grounded him. In the fall of 2004, his injuries were determined to be inoperable and this resulted in his being medically disqualified from future space flights. He requested to be re-assigned to the Marine Corps.  He retired as an astronaut in 2005.

Happy birthday, Atlantis astronaut Thomas J. Hennen!

Thomas John Hennen, born August 17, 1952 in Albany, Georgia, went into space aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis (STS-44), a Department of Defense mission in November 1991.  Hennen is the first Warrant Officer within the US Army and Department of Defense to have been selected as a member of a Space Shuttle crew.

He spent almost 7 days in space and completed 10 orbits.  He retired from the Army in December 1995 and lives in Houston, Texas.