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Current and Upcoming MIT Astronauts In
Space
(Updated 11-16-2009)
 UPDATE
Two MIT
Astronauts are in space in Nov, 2009
MIT
Astronaut Robert Thirsk (SM ’78, MBA SL ’98) is aboard the
International Space Station (ISS) and
MIT Astronaut Robert Satcher, Jr. (SB ’86, PhD ’93)
joined him when Space Shuttle Mission STS-129
launched
on Nov
16, 2009. This is the 12th time in history that
2 or more MIT Astronauts
are in space at the same time.
Thirsk will return to Earth via Soyuz TMA-15 on
December 1, 2009.
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Thirsk,
Robert B.
SM Course 2, '78
MBA SL15A, ‘98 |
Satcher, Robert L.
SB Course 10, '86
PhD Course 10, '93 |
Mission
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ISS
Expedition 20 /
21
Expedition 20 Photo Gallery (updated daily)
Expedition 21 Photo Gallery (updated daily) |
STS-129 Latest Mission Status
Twitter: @Astro_Bones
STS-129 Mission Overview
STS-129 Photo Gallery
(updated daily during the shuttle mission) |
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Current Status |
JSC2009-E-122462 (27
May 2009) --- The Soyuz TMA-15 launches from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on May 27,
2009. Photo credit: ESA/CSA/NASA/Stephane
Corvaja
Robert Thirsk '78, '98,
launched on a Soyuz spacecraft to the
International Space Station (ISS) on May 27,
2009, and docked with the ISS
on May 29, 2009. Thirsk is serving
as Flight Engineer for Expedition 20 and 21.
Expedition 20 marks a major
ISS milestone reflecting a six-member crew for
the first time.
Thirsk will return to Earth via Space Shuttle
mission STS-129, scheduled for November, 2009.
S127-E-009733 (28 July 2009) --- The STS-127 and
Expedition 20 crew members pose for a group
portrait in the Harmony node of the
International Space Station while the Space
Shuttle Endeavour remains docked with the
station. Pictured from the left (front row) are
NASA astronauts Michael Barratt, Expedition 20
flight engineer; Mark Polansky, STS-127
commander; cosmonaut Gennady Padalka, Expedition
20 commander; and NASA astronaut Dave Wolf,
STS-127 mission specialist.
Pictured from the left (middle row) are
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA)
astronaut Koichi Wakata, STS-127 mission
specialist; Canadian Space Agency astronauts
Julie Payette, STS-127 mission specialist; and
Robert Thirsk, Expedition 20 flight
engineer; and NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn,
STS-127 mission specialist.
Pictured from the left (back row) are
cosmonaut Roman Romanenko, Expedition 20 flight
engineer; NASA astronauts Christopher Cassidy,
STS-127 mission specialist; Doug Hurley, STS-127
pilot; Tim Kopra, Expedition 20 flight engineer;
and European Space Agency astronaut Frank De
Winne, Expedition 20 flight engineer.
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Robert Satcher Jr.
’86, ‘93, launched on the STS-129 Space Shuttle mission to the
ISS on Nov 16, 2009.
Shuttle scheduled to dock with the ISS on Nov 18
Satcher scheduled to perform spacewalks on Nov 19 and 23
Shuttle scheduled to undock from ISS on Nov 25
Shuttle scheduled to land at Florida on Nov 27
This is the first
spaceflight for Satcher. In addition to SB and PhD degrees in
chemical engineering from MIT, he earned a MD from Harvard Medical
School in ’94.
He was selected by
NASA in 2004 and completed his initial training in 2006. Satcher
worked as an orthopedic surgeon and did medical missions in
Venezuela and Nigeria. He will participate in two of the three
planned spacewalks.
The mission will
return station crew member Nicole Stott to Earth. STS-129 is slated
to be the final space shuttle crew rotation flight to or from the
ISS. Atlantis will deliver parts to the space station, including a
spare gyroscope. The mission will feature three spacewalks.
STS-129 is the 31st shuttle mission to the station. |
Launch
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May
27, 2009 via Soyuz Spacecraft |
Nov 16, 2009 |
Landing
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Will return to Earth via
Soyuz
TMA-15 on Dec 1, 2009 |
Nov 27, 2009
(scheduled) |
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