NASA Astronaut Group 15

The Flying Escargot
The astronauts of Group 15
Year selected	1994
Number selected	23
←  14 (1992) 16 (1996)  →

NASA Astronaut Group 15 ("The Flying Escargot") was a group of 23 NASA astronauts announced on December 8, 1994. ^{[1] [2]} Group members adopted The Flying Escargot as their moniker, in reference to two members of the group being from France. ^[3] The group featured ten pilots, nine mission specialists, and four international mission specialist trainees from France, ^{[4] [5] [6]} Canada ^[7] and Japan. ^[7]

Three members of this group, Rick Husband, Michael P. Anderson, and Kalpana Chawla, died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster. ^[8] These three received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor. ^{[9] [10] [11]}

Another member of the group Pamela Melroy, served as Deputy Administrator of NASA from 2021 to 2025, having been appointed by US President Joe Biden. ^[12]

Pilots

• Scott Altman ^[13] (4 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-90 Columbia ^[14] (Neurolab)
  • Pilot, STS-106 Atlantis ^[15]
  • Commander, STS-109 Columbia ^[16]
  • Commander, STS-125 Atlantis ^[17]

• Jeffrey Ashby ^[18] (3 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-93 Columbia ^[19]
  • Pilot, STS-100 Endeavour ^[20]
  • Commander, STS-112 Atlantis ^[21]
• Michael Bloomfield ^[22] (3 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-86 Atlantis ^[23]
  • Pilot, STS-97 Endeavour ^[24]
  • Commander, STS-110 Atlantis ^[25]
• Joe F. Edwards, Jr. ^[26] (1 flight)
  • Pilot, STS-89 Endeavour ^[27]
• Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie ^[28] (4 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-91 Discovery ^[29]
  • Pilot, STS-99 Endeavour ^[30]
  • Commander, STS-108 Endeavour ^[31]
  • Commander, STS-123 Endeavour ^[32]
• Rick Husband ^[9] (2 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-96 Discovery ^[33]
  • Commander, STS-107 Columbia† ^[34]
• Steven Lindsey ^[35] (5 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-87 Columbia ^[36]
  • Pilot, STS-95 Discovery ^[37]
  • Commander, STS-104 Atlantis ^[21]
  • Commander, STS-121 Discovery ^[38]
  • Commander, STS-133 Discovery ^[39]
• Pamela Melroy ^[40] (3 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-92 Discovery ^[41]
  • Pilot, STS-112 Atlantis ^[42]
  • Commander, STS-120 Discovery ^[43]
• Susan L. Still-Kilrain ^[44] (2 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-83 Columbia ^[45]
  • Pilot, STS-94 Columbia ^[46]
• Frederick Sturckow ^[47] (4 flights)
  • Pilot, STS-88 Endeavour ^[48]
  • Pilot, STS-105 Discovery ^[49]
  • Commander, STS-117 Atlantis ^[50]
  • Commander, STS-128 Discovery ^[51]

Mission Specialists

• Michael P. Anderson ^[10] (2 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-89 Endeavour ^[27]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-107 Columbia† ^[34]
• Kalpana Chawla ^[11] (2 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-87 Columbia ^[36]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-107 Columbia† ^[34]
• Robert Curbeam ^[52] (3 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-85 Discovery ^[53]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-98 Atlantis ^[54]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-116 Discovery ^[55]
• Kathryn Hire ^[56] (2 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-90 Columbia ^[14]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-130 Endeavour ^[57]
• Janet Kavandi ^[58] (3 flights)
  • STS-91 Discovery ^[29]
  • STS-99 Endeavour ^[30]
  • STS-104 Atlantis ^[21]
• Edward Tsang Lu ^[59] (3 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-84 Atlantis ^[60]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-104 Atlantis ^[21]
  • Flight Engineer, Soyuz TMA-2 - Flight Engineer, Expedition 7 ^[61]
• Carlos I. Noriega ^[62] (2 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-84 Atlantis ^[60]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-97 Endeavour ^[24]
• James F. Reilly ^[63] (3 flights)
  • STS-89 Endeavour ^[27]
  • STS-104 Atlantis ^[21]
  • STS-117 Atlantis ^[50]
• Stephen Robinson ^[64] (4 flights)
  • STS-85 Discovery ^[53]
  • STS-95 Discovery ^[37]
  • STS-114 Discovery ^[65]
  • STS-130 Endeavour ^[57]

International mission specialists

• Jean-Loup Chrétien (France) ^[7] (3 flights)
  • Research Cosmonaut, Soyuz T-6 ^{[66] : 49(64)}
  • Research Cosmonaut, Soyuz TM-6/TM-7 ^{[66] : 55(70)} (Mir Aragatz)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-86 Atlantis ^[23]
• Takao Doi (Japan) ^[67] (2 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-87 Columbia ^[36]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-123 Endeavour ^[32]
• Michel Tognini (France) ^[7] (2 flights)
  • Research Cosmonaut, Soyuz TM-15/TM-14 ^{[66] : 57-58(72-73)}
  • Mission Specialist, STS-93 Columbia ^[19]
• Dafydd Williams (Canada) ^[68] (2 flights)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-90 Columbia ^[14]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-118 Endeavour ^[69]

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