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people have visited this website since November 29, 2000.
Last modified
10/13/09 11:57 PM
Legend: ISS = International Space Station
Recent
Missions
MIT Alums In Space Four,
At The Same Time!
(updated
10-13-2009)
There have been many times in
which two MIT astronauts have been in space at the same time (9
Space Shuttle
missions and 1 Apollo mission), but for the first time in NASA history, four MIT
astronauts
were in space simultaneously in
November, 2008.
MIT Alums
Stephen Bowen
and
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper
launched into space on Nov 14, 2008 via Space Shuttle
Mission STS-126 and joined MIT Alums Greg Chamitoff
and
Mike Fincke
on the International Space Station (ISS) on Nov 16, 2008.
Bowen,
Chamitoff,
Fincke and
Stefanyshyn-Piper
were together on the ISS from Nov 16 through Nov 28, 2008.
Learn more...
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Name
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Recent
Missions
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Cassidy,
Christopher J. (Lt Commander,
USN)
SM Course 13, '00 |
STS-127
Launched: July 15, 2009
Landed: July 31, 2009
STS-127 Photo Gallery
STS-127 Mission Overview
368610 (July 15,
2009)--- Under a cloud-washed sky, space shuttle
Endeavour rises majestically from Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy
Space Center in Florida on the STS-127 mission to the International
Space Station. Liftoff was on-time
at 5:03 PM
CDT. Photo
credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann
Christopher Cassidy
'00, launched on the STS-127 Space Shuttle mission to the ISS on
July 15, 2009.
STS-127 docked with
the ISS at 12:47pm CDT, July 17, 2009. Hatches
were opened between Shuttle Endeavour and the ISS at 2:43pm CDT,
July 17, forming the first 13-member crew
in space history.
Cassidy served as
mission specialist and performed 3 spacewalks (July 22, 24, and 27,
2009). This was
Cassidy's first flight into space.
S127-E-008877 (26 July 2009) ---
Astronauts Tom Marshburn (left) and Christopher Cassidy, both
STS-127 mission specialists, work with extravehicular activity (EVA)
tools in the Quest airlock of the International Space Station while
Space Shuttle Endeavour remains docked with the station.
STS-127 installed the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility and
Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section. The facility provides a type of "front porch" for experiments in the exposed
environment, and a robotic arm that will be attached to the Kibo
Pressurized Module and used to position experiments outside the
station.
S127-E-009347 S127-E-009315 (27
July 2009) --- Astronaut Christopher Cassidy, STS-127 mission
specialist, participates in the mission's fifth and final session of
extravehicular activity (EVA) as construction and maintenance
continue on the International Space Station. During the four-hour,
54-minute spacewalk, Cassidy and astronaut Tom Marshburn (out of
frame), mission specialist, secured multi-layer insulation around
the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator known as Dextre, split out
power channels for two space station Control Moment Gyroscopes,
installed video cameras on the front and back of the new Japanese
Exposed Facility and performed a number of "get ahead" tasks,
including tying down some cables and installing handrails and a
portable foot restraint to aid future spacewalkers. |
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Grunsfeld,
John M.
SB Course 8, '80
Massimino,
Michael J.
SM Course 2, 88
SM TPP, 88
ME, Course 2, 90
PhD Course 2, 92
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STS-125
Shuttle Mission
Launched:
May 11, 2009
Landed:
May 24, 2009
Check out our local STS-125 webpage...
STS-125: Final Shuttle
Mission to Hubble Space Telescope
MIT Alums
John M. Grunsfeld
SB 80 and
Michael J. Massimino
SM 88 MS TPP 88 ME 90 PhD 92 launched on Space Shuttle Atlantis
for the fifth and final Shuttle Mission (STS-125) to the Hubble Space
Telescope.
Grunsfeld and Massimino,
along with two other astronauts, performed five spacewalks to
refurbish and upgrade Hubble with state-of-the-art science instruments.
Hubble's capabilities will be expanded and its lifetime extended through
at least 2014.
Chicago native Grunsfeld, an astronomer, made his third trip
to Hubble and his fifth space flight. For the STS-125
mission, he performed three spacewalks. Previously, he performed a total of five
spacewalks to service the telescope on STS-103 in 1999 and STS-109 in
2002. He also flew on STS-67 in 1995 and STS-81 in 1997.
Massimino, from Franklin Square, N.Y., made his second trip to Hubble and his
second space flight. For the STS-125 mission, he
performed two spacewalks. Previously, he performed two spacewalks to service the
telescope during the STS-109 mission in 2002.
Shuttle Mission STS-125 Information
STS-125 Mission Overview
Hubble Space Telescope Repair Overview
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Fincke,
Edward M.
SB Course 16, 89
SB Course 12, 89
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ISS Expedition Crew 18
Up via Soyuz Flight
- Oct 12, 2008
Down via Soyuz Flight -
Apr 7, 2009
Mike Fincke launched on
Oct 12, 2008 via a Soyuz spacecraft and
docked with the ISS on Oct 14, 2008, 3:26am CDT
Fincke, the only American to
launch twice on a Soyuz, will serve as commander of
the six-month Expedition 18 mission. The missions
main focus will be preparing the station to house
six crew members on long-duration missions.
MIT Astronaut Mike Fincke '89 landed in Kazakhstan
at 2:16 am
CDT Wednesday, April 8,
2009 after about six months in space
Click here for pictures of the Soyuz spacecraft
landing |
Antonelli,
Dominic A. (Commander, USN)
SB Course 16, 89
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STS-119 Mission Overview
STS-119 Photo Gallery
Launched: Mar 15, 2009
Landed: Mar 28, 2009
STS-119 launched at
6:43pm CDT, March 15, 2009
Shuttle Discovery Docked
with the Space
Station on Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Shuttle Discovery Undocked
from the Space Station on Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Discovery landed at the
Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on Saturday, March 28, 2009 at
2:14 pm
CDT
Navy
Cmdr. Dominic A. Antonelli will serve as the pilot for Discovery's
STS-119 and is making his first spaceflight.
Discovery will carry the S6 truss segment to complete the 361-foot-long
backbone of the space station. The truss includes the fourth pair of
solar array wings and electronics that convert sunlight to power for the
orbiting laboratory.
Antonelli grew up in Indiana and North Carolina. He earned a
bachelor's and a master's in aeronautics and astronautics from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, and the University of
Washington, Seattle, respectively. He has been a CAPCOM, or capsule
communicator, during launch and landing of space shuttle missions. He
was selected as an astronaut in 2000.
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Bowen,
Stephen G. (Lt Commander, USN)
OCE
Course 13W, 93
Stefanyshyn-Piper,
Heidemarie M. (Captain USN)
SB Course 2, 84
SM Course 2, 85
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STS-126
Shuttle Mission
Nov 14, 2008
Nov 16, 2008
Oct 16, 2008
NASA Release 07-217, Oct 1, 2007
NASA ASSIGNS CREW FOR SPACE STATION ASSEMBLY MISSION
WASHINGTON -- NASA has assigned the space shuttle crew for Endeavour's
STS-126 mission, targeted for launch in September 2008. The flight will
deliver equipment to the International Space Station that will enable
larger crews to reside aboard the complex.
The mission specialists are
Navy Cmdr. Stephen
G. Bowen, NASA astronaut Joan E.
Higginbotham, Army Lt. Col. Robert S. Kimbrough and
Navy Capt.
Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper. Boe, Bowen and Kimbrough will be
making their first spaceflight.
STS-126 will be the second spaceflight for Ferguson and
Stefanyshyn-Piper, who flew together on STS-115 in September 2006.
It also is the second flight for Higginbotham, who flew on STS-116 in
December 2006.
Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold supplies
and equipment, including additional crew quarters, a second treadmill,
equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware.
Bowen was born in Cohasset, Mass. He has a bachelor's
degree from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., and a master's
degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge
Bowen also was selected as an astronaut in 2000. He was
previously named to the STS-124 crew but has been reassigned to STS-126.
The change will allow room for the STS-124 mission to rotate a space
station resident, who will be named later
Stefanyshyn-Piper was born in St. Paul, Minn. She conducted two
spacewalks on STS-115. She has a bachelor's and master's degrees in
mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
She was selected as an astronaut in 1996.
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Chamitoff,
Gregory E.
PhD Course 16, 92
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ISS
Expedition Crew 17
Up via
STS-124 - May 31, 2008
Down via STS-126 - Nov 14, 2008
NASA Release 08-005, Jan 11, 2008
Astronaut
Gregory
E. Chamitoff is scheduled to fly to the station as a mission
specialist on STS-124. He will take Reisman's place as an Expedition 17
flight engineer and return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-126, which is
targeted to launch Sept. 18, 2008. Chamitoff, who was born in Montreal,
Canada, grew up in San Jose, Calif. He has a doctorate in aeronautics
and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Melroy,
Pamela Ann (Col, USAF, Retired)
SM Course 12, '84
Click On Pictures
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STS-120 2007
Shuttle Mission
Oct 23, 2007
See the
STS-120 Photo Gallery
Click here for MIT Tech Talk Article (Page 4 of Sept 27, 2006 issue)
STS-120
is the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station, and will
launch an Italian-built U.S. multi-port module for the station.
Retired Air
Force Col.
Pamela A.
Melroy will command the
STS-120
mission to take
the Node 2 connecting module to the station. Melroy, a veteran
shuttle pilot, is the second woman
and the fifth MIT alum to command a shuttle mission.
STS-120
will be Melroy's third shuttle flight. The native of Palo Alto,
Calif., served as pilot of missions
STS-92 in 2000 and
STS-112 in 2002, both flights to the space
station. |
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Tani,
Daniel M.
SB Course 2, 84
SM Course 2, 88
Click On Pictures
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ISS Expedition Crew 16
STS-120 2007
Shuttle Mission
Oct 23, 2007
See the
STS-120 Photo GalleryFlight Engineer
Daniel M. Tani
will fly to the station aboard space shuttle Discovery on
STS-120
and join Expedition 16 as a flight engineer. He will return home aboard
space shuttle Atlantis on mission
STS-122.
He was selected
as an astronaut in 1996.
Tani's
first spaceflight was aboard Endeavour in December 2001 on the STS-108
mission. During that flight, he performed a four-hour spacewalk.
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Patrick,
Nicholas J. M.
SM Course 2, 90
PhD Course 2, 96
|
STS-116 2006 Shuttle Mission
Launch Date: Dec 9, 2006
International Space Station Flight 12A.1
See the STS-116 Photo Gallery
Media Advisory
M06-168 Oct. 24, 2006
NASA
astronaut Nick Patrick will operate the space shuttle's robotic arm
during a mission targeted to launch in December. A citizen of both
Britain and the United States, Patrick considers London and Rye, N.Y.,
his hometowns. He will be making his first spaceflight on Discovery
during mission STS-116. The mission will deliver a small section of the
station's girder-like truss and rewire the complex to bring electricity
on line from solar arrays delivered in September. Patrick has
bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Cambridge,
England, and a master's and doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute
of Technology, Cambridge, Mass. Patrick was selected as an astronaut in
1998. Aboard Discovery, Patrick will use the shuttle's robotic arm to
lift the new truss segment from the cargo bay for installation. Among
other tasks, he will also use the arm to inspect the shuttle's heat
shield.
Click On Picture
S116-E-05405 (11
Dec. 2006) --- Astronaut Nicholas J. M. Patrick, STS-116 mission
specialist, holds food packages near the galley on the middeck of Space
Shuttle Discovery.
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Click
On Picture
ISS014-E-09804 (14 Dec. 2006) --- From the aft flight deck on Space
Shuttle Discovery, astronauts William A. (Bill) Oefelein (left), STS-116
pilot; Nicholas J. M. Patrick, mission specialist; and Mark L. Polansky,
commander, look through an overhead window toward their spacewalking
crewmembers, who captured the image during the mission's second of three
planned sessions of extravehicular activity (EVA).
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Click
On Picture
S116-E-05171 (10 Dec.
2006) --- Astronaut Nicholas J. M. Patrick, STS-116 mission specialist,
works on the flight deck of Space Shuttle Discovery during flight day
two.
Photo courtesy of NASA.
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Stefanyshyn-Piper,
Heidemarie M. (Captain USN)
SB Course 2, 84
SM Course 2, 85
|
STS-115 2006
Shuttle Mission
Launch Date: Sept 9, 2006
International Space Station Flight 12A
See the STS-115 Photo Gallery
Click here
for MIT Tech Talk Article (Page 5 of Oct 4, 2006 issue)
NASAs ready to get back to building the
International Space Station, which means the shuttle program is coming
up on some of the most challenging space missions ever. And it all
starts with the launch of Atlantis on STS-115 in August.
Atlantis' six crew members will install a second set of solar arrays on
the space station, doubling the stations ability to generate power from
sunlight and adding 17.5 tons to its mass. Its a mission theyve had
four years to train for.
A member of the 1996 astronaut class,
Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper is assigned
to STS-115 as a mission specialist and will
work with the solar arrays during two
spacewalks. Atlantis' flight will
deliver the station's first Solar Alpha Rotary Joint a 10-foot wide,
wagon-wheel-shaped joint that allows the arrays to turn toward the sun.
Click On Picture
S115-E-05758 (12
Sept. 2006) --- Astronaut Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, STS-115
mission specialist, pauses for a moment during the Sept. 12 spacewalk,
which she shared with astronaut Joseph R. Tanner. The two participated
in the first of three scheduled STS-115 extravehicular activity (EVA)
sessions as the Atlantis astronauts and the Expedition 13 crew members
join efforts this week to resume construction of the International Space
Station.
Photo courtesy of NASA.
Click
On Picture
S115-E-05719 (12
Sept. 2006) --- Astronaut Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, STS-115
mission specialist, exposed this self-portrait during the Sept. 12 space
walk that marked the resumption of construction on the International
Space Station. The mission specialist had just unstowed the forward
Solar Array Blanket Box (SABB). She shared the day's work with astronaut
Joseph R. Tanner, who appears just below the glare in her helmet visor.
The two participated in the first of three scheduled STS-115
extravehicular activity (EVA) sessions as the Atlantis astronauts and
the Expedition 13 crew members join efforts this week to resume
construction of the International Space Station. Photo
courtesy of NASA.
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Lawrence,
Wendy B. (Capt., USN)
SM Course 13 / WHOI, '88
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STS-114 2005
Shuttle Mission (alternate
STS-114 mission summary)
July 13, 2005
International Space Station Flight LF1
See the STS-114 Photo Gallery
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Fincke,
Edward M.
SB Course 16, 89
SB Course 12, 89
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April 18, 2004
ISS Expedition Crew Nine
See the Expedition 9 Photo Gallery
As the
Expedition 9 crew, NASA astronaut
Edward Michael "Mike" Fincke 89 and Russian cosmonaut Gennady
Padalka are currently on the International Space Station for a 6 month
mission. They traveled to the Station aboard the Russian Soyuz 8
spacecraft on April 18, 2004.
MIT Alum
Returns From International Space Station
(ISS) On October 23, 2004
Mike Fincke Live Broadcast
from the ISS
on July 12, 2004: addressing the crowd at the Home Run Derby at Minute Maid
Park, Houston (courtesy of Ramon San Pedro '86)
CNN Article on The Fincke Family's Newest Addition
Col. Mike Fincke '89 patches into Tech Day 2004 while in
orbit aboard the International Space Station
Click here for MIT
Alumni Association Web Article
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Melroy,
Pamela Ann (Col, USAF, Retired)
SM Course 12, '84
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STS-112 2002
ISS
Flight 9A
14th International Space Station Mission
10-2-2002
See the STS-112 Photo Gallery
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Chang-Diaz,
Franklin R.
ScD Course 22, '77
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STS-111 2002
ISS
Flight UF-2
14th International Space Station Mission
06-05-2002
See the STS-111 Photo Gallery
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Grunsfeld,
John M.
SB Course 8, '80
Massimino,
Michael J.
SM Course 2, 88
SM TPP, 88
ME, Course 2, 90
PhD Course 2, 92
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STS-109 2002 Hubble Mission
02-28-2002
MIT
Alums Flew on STS-109 Shuttle Mission (MIT March 13, 2002 Tech Talk Article)
See the STS-109 Photo Gallery
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Tani,
Daniel M.
SB Course 2, 84
SM Course 2, 88 |
STS-108 2001
ISS
Flight UF-1
12th International Space Station Mission
12-05-2001
See the STS-108 Photo Gallery
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Sheperd,
William M. (Captain, USN)
SM Course 2, '78
SM Course 13, '78
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ISS 2R Oct 2000
(Capt. Sheperd was on the Space Station for 4 months)
On Oct. 31, 2000, the
Expedition One crew began its historic mission to the International Space
Station. MIT Alum Captain Bill
Sheperd is the sole US Astronaut in Expedition One. Its mission was completed with the landing of Space Shuttle Discovery on
STS-102.
Learn more about Expedition
One. ISS
Website
See the Expedition 1 Photo Gallery
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Melroy,
Pamela Ann (Col, USAF, Retired)
SM Course 12, '84
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STS-106 2000
(ISS
Assembly Flight 2A.2b)
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Voss,
Janice
SM Course 6, '77
PhD Course 16, '78
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STS-99 2000
Shuttle
Radar Topography Mission
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Grunsfeld,
John M.
SB Course 8, '80
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STS-103 1999
Hubble
Space Telescope Repair
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Coleman,
Catherine G. (Cady) (Col, USAF)
SB Course 5, 83
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STS-93 1999
Chandra X-Ray
Observatory
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NOTE: All MIT Astronaut information is obtained from
the following NASA websites:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/PS/
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