Kenneth Dwane "Sox" Bowersox is a United States Navy officer and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle launches and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station. When he launched on STS-73 at the age of 38 years and 11 months,he became the youngest person to command a Space Shuttle.
Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan is an American geologist,oceanographer,and former NASA astronaut and US Navy officer. She was a crew member on three Space Shuttle missions.
Charles Frank Bolden Jr. is a former Administrator of NASA,a retired United States Marine Corps Major General,and a former astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions.
John Mace Grunsfeld is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and has served as NASA Chief Scientist. His academic background includes research in high energy astrophysics,cosmic ray physics and the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in future astronomical instrumentation. After retiring from NASA in 2009,he served as the deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore,Maryland. In January 2012,he returned to NASA and served as associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Grunsfeld announced his retirement from NASA in April 2016.
Frederick Drew Gregory is a former United States Air Force pilot,military engineer,test pilot,and NASA astronaut as well as former NASA Deputy Administrator. He also served briefly as NASA Acting Administrator in early 2005,covering the period between the departure of Sean O'Keefe and the swearing in of Michael D. Griffin.
The Vision for Space Exploration (VSE) was a plan for space exploration announced on January 14,2004 by President George W. Bush. It was conceived as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster,the state of human spaceflight at NASA,and as a way to regain public enthusiasm for space exploration.
The Hubble Origins Probe (HOP) was a proposal for an orbital telescope made in 2005 in response to the first cancellation of the fourth Hubble Space Telescope (HST) servicing mission. It would have used an Atlas V rocket or similar launch vehicle to launch a much lighter,unaberrated mirror and optical telescope assembly,using the instruments that had already been built for SM4,along with a new wide-field imager. It would have cost between $700 million and $1 billion.
Michael Douglas Griffin is an American physicist and aerospace engineer who served as the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering from 2018 to 2020. He previously served as deputy of technology for the Strategic Defense Initiative,and as administrator of NASA from April 13,2005,to January 20,2009. As NASA administrator,Griffin oversaw such areas as private spaceflight,future human spaceflight to Mars,and the fate of the Hubble telescope.
Arthur Joseph O'Keefe,Sr. was mayor of New Orleans from 1926 through 1929.
Sol Alan Stern is an American engineer,planetary scientist and space tourist. He is the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and the Chief Scientist at Moon Express.
STS-125,or HST-SM4,was the fifth and final Space Shuttle mission to the Hubble Space Telescope (HST). The launch of the Space Shuttle Atlantis occurred on May 11,2009,at 2:01 pm EDT. Landing occurred on May 24 at 11:39 am EDT,with the mission lasting a total of just under 13 days.
The Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV) was a component of the U.S. NASA Vision for Space Exploration plan. A competition was held to design a spacecraft that could carry humans to the destinations envisioned by the plan. The winning design was the Orion spacecraft.
Andrew Jay "Drew" Feustel is a former American/Canadian NASA astronaut and geophysicist. Following several years working as a geophysicist,Feustel was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in July 2000. He is the veteran of 3 space flights with NASA. His first spaceflight in May 2009,STS-125,lasted just under 13 days. This was a mission with six other astronauts to repair the Hubble Space Telescope,aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis. Feustel performed three spacewalks during the mission. His second spaceflight was STS-134,which launched on May 16,2011,and landed on June 1,2011. STS-134 was the penultimate Space Shuttle flight. Feustel returned to space on March 21,2018,on Soyuz MS-08 with Expedition 55/56. For expedition 56,he commanded the International Space Station,before handing over to Alexander Gerst on October 3,2018.
The NASA Authorization Act of 2005 is an act of the United States Congress that requires NASA to carry out a balanced set of programs in human spaceflight,in aeronautics research and development and in scientific research. It was signed by the then President George W. Bush and became Public Law 109-155 on December 30,2005.
The NASA Decadal Planning Team (DPT) and its successor,the NASA Exploration Team (NExT),were influential behind-the-scenes efforts to develop a major new direction for the space agency early in the 21st century.
Jeanette Jo Epps is an American aerospace engineer and NASA astronaut. Epps received both her M. S. and Ph.D. degrees in aerospace engineering from the University of Maryland,where she was part of the rotor-craft research group and was a NASA GSRP Fellow. She was chosen for the 20th class of NASA astronauts in 2009,graduating in 2011. Epps currently serves as a member of the ISS Operations Branch and has completed analog astronaut missions,including NEEMO 18 and CAVES 19. She is the second woman and first African-American woman to have participated in CAVES. She is currently in space for a long duration mission on the ISS,after launch in 4 March 2024,as part of the SpaceX Crew-8 crew.
On August 9,2010,a privately operated amphibious floatplane crashed near Aleknagik,Alaska,killing five of the nine people on board. The fatalities included former U.S. Senator Ted Stevens,while the survivors included former Administrator of NASA and then-CEO of EADS North America Sean O'Keefe,his son,and future Deputy Administrator of NASA James Morhard.
Keith Cowing is an American astrobiologist,former NASA employee,and the editor of the American space program blog NASA Watch. He is a credentialed NASA journalist and is known to be a critic of NASA activities and policies.
