NASA Astronaut Group 9 was a group of 19 NASA astronauts announced on May 29, 1980, [1] and completed their training by 1981. This group was selected to supplement the 35 astronauts that had been selected in 1978, and marked the first time that non-Americans were trained as mission specialists with the selections of ESA astronauts Claude Nicollier and Wubbo Ockels. In keeping with the previous group, astronaut candidates were divided into pilots and mission specialists, with eight pilots, eleven mission specialists, and two international mission specialists within the group. [1]
As with the previous group, several spaceflight firsts were achieved, including:
In addition, Chang-Diaz and Ross share the world record for the most spaceflights, with seven each. [8] Bolden also became the second astronaut to serve as NASA Administrator, appointed in July 2009. [9]
Delays in Spacelab caused NASA to offer ESA payload specialists the opportunity to train with its full-time astronauts; Nicollier and Ockels were the first non-Americans to do so. Ulf Merbold would also have trained as a mission specialist but could not pass the medical examination, an example of the lower physical standards for payload specialists. ESA believed that Spacelab was more important than mission specialist training. In September 1981 Ockels withdrew from training to focus on Spacelab; Nicollier continued and until 2005 was a NASA mission specialist. [36]
STS-9 was the ninth NASA Space Shuttle mission and the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia. Launched on November 28, 1983, the ten-day mission carried the first Spacelab laboratory module into orbit.
Thomas Dale Akers is a former American astronaut in NASA's Space Shuttle program.
James Donald "Wxb" Wetherbee, is a retired United States Navy officer and aviator, test pilot, aerospace engineer, and NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of six Space Shuttle missions and is the only American to have commanded five spaceflight missions.
Kenneth Dale "Taco" Cockrell is a retired American astronaut, engineer and a veteran of five Space Shuttle missions. He served as Chief of the Astronaut Office from 1997 to 1998.
Jerry Lynn Ross is a retired United States Air Force officer, engineer, and a former NASA astronaut. Ross is a veteran of 7 Space Shuttle missions, making him the joint record holder for most spaceflights.
William McMichael "Bill" Shepherd, , is an American former Navy SEAL, aerospace, ocean, and mechanical engineer, and NASA astronaut, who served as commander of Expedition 1, the first crew on the International Space Station. He is a recipient of the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.
Curtis Lee "Curt" Brown Jr. is a former NASA astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel.
Wubbo Johannes Ockels was a Dutch physicist and astronaut with the European Space Agency who, in 1985, became the first Dutch citizen in space when he flew on STS-61-A as a payload specialist. He later became professor of aerospace engineering at Delft University of Technology.
Linda Maxine Godwin is an American scientist and retired NASA astronaut. Godwin joined NASA in 1980 and became an astronaut in July 1986. She retired in 2010. During her career, Godwin completed four space flights and logged over 38 days in space. Godwin also served as the assistant to the director for exploration, Flight Crew Operations Directorate at the Johnson Space Center. Since retiring from NASA, she accepted the position of professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Missouri.
Gregory Jordan "Greg" Harbaugh is an aeronautical/astronautical engineer and former NASA astronaut. He flew on four space shuttle missions as a mission specialist with responsibilities that included Remote Manipulator System (RMS) operation and Extravehicular Activity (EVAs). He performed three spacewalks during the shuttle missions including in support of repair/refurbishment of the Hubble Space Telescope.
Kathryn Ryan Cordell Thornton is an American scientist and a former NASA astronaut with over 975 hours in space, including 21 hours of extravehicular activity. She was the associate dean for graduate programs at the University of Virginia School of Engineering and Applied Science, currently a professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering.
James Shelton Voss is a retired United States Army colonel and NASA astronaut. During his time with NASA, Voss flew in space five times on board the Space Shuttle and International Space Station. He also served as deputy of Flight Operations for the Space Station Program Mission Integration and Operations Office. While participating in ISS Expedition 2, he and Susan Helms conducted an 8-hour and 56 minute spacewalk, the longest to date.
NASA Astronaut Group 13 was a group of 23 astronauts announced by NASA on 17 January 1990. The group name came from its selection of a black cat as a mascot, to play against the traditional unlucky connotations of the number 13.
NASA Astronaut Group 16 was a group of 44 astronauts announced by NASA on May 1, 1996. The class was nicknamed "The Sardines" for being such a large class, humorously implying that their training sessions would be as tightly packed as sardines in a can. These 44 candidates compose the largest astronaut class to date. NASA selected so many candidates in preparation for the anticipated need for ISS crew members, along with regular shuttle needs. Nine of the 44 astronauts selected were from other countries including 5 from Europe and 2 from Canada and Japan.
NASA Astronaut Group 17, were chosen by NASA in 1998 and announced on June 4 of that year. The group of 32 candidates included eight pilots, 17 mission specialists, and seven international mission specialists who became NASA astronauts. They began training in August 1998.
NASA Astronaut Group 15 was a group of 23 NASA astronauts announced on December 8, 1994. Group members adopted The Flying Escargot as their moniker, in reference to two members of the group being from France. The group featured ten pilots, nine mission specialists, and four international mission specialist trainees from France, Canada and Japan.
NASA Astronaut Group 12 was a group of 15 astronauts announced by NASA on June 5, 1987.
NASA Astronaut Group 10 was a group of 17 astronauts that were announced on May 23, 1984 and consisted of seven pilots and ten mission specialists. Although selected in 1984, no member of the group would fly until 1988 due to the Challenger disaster and the resulting grounding of the Space Shuttle fleet.
NASA Astronaut Group 14 was a group of 24 astronauts announced by NASA on 31 March 1992. The group's name derived from The Muppet Show skit "Pigs in Space" and from the group's sponsorship of a pot-bellied pig at the Houston Zoo.
NASA Astronaut Group 11 was a group of 13 NASA astronauts announced on 4 June 1985.
The first space-faring Dutch astronaut was Wubbo Ockels, who flew aboard Space Shuttle Challenger in 1985.
International cooperation was highlighted by the flight of the first Swiss astronaut and the first Italian payload specialist on STS-46...
You were the first married couple in the Astronaut Office.