Articles Index

Walter M. (Wally) Schirra Jr. Biography
Captain Schirra was one of the seven Mercury Astronauts named by NASA in April 1959. On October 3, 1962; he piloted the six orbit Sigma 7 Mercury flight; a flight which lasted 9 hours, 15 minutes. The spacecraft attained a velocity of 17,557 miles per hour at an altitude of 175 statue miles and traveled almost 144,000 statute miles before re-entry into the earth's atmosphere. Recovery of the Sigma 7 spacecraft occurred in the Pacific Ocean about 275 miles northeast of Midway Island.

Donn F. Eisele (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
Donn F. Eisele (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) - NASA Astronaut (Deceased) was one of the third group of astronauts selected by NASA in October 1963. [p] On October 11, 1968, he occupied the command module pilot seat for the eleven-day flight of Apollo VII—the first manned flight test of the third generation United States spacecraft.

Dale A. Gardner NASA
Dale A. Gardner - former NASA Astronaut was born November 8, 1948 in Fairmont, Minnesota. Grew up in Sherburn, Minnesota and Savanna, Illinois. STS-8 launched from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida on August 30, 1983. STS-51A, the fourteenth flight of the Shuttle program, launched on November 8, 1984 (his birthday).

M. Scott Carpenter Biography
M. Scott Carpenter was both an Astronaut and an Aquanaut. M. Scott Carpenter was born in Boulder, CO, on May 1, 1925. M. Scott Carpenter was commissioned in the US Navy in 1949. M. Scott Carpenter flew the second American manned orbital flight on May 24, 1962.

Buzz Aldrin Biography
Marion Moon and Edwin Eugene Aldrin had their son, Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr. on January 20, 1930 in Montclair, NJ. He would later legally change his name to Buzz Aldrin. He served as lunar module pilot for Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing mission. Aldrin followed Neil Armstrong onto the lunar surface on July 20, 1969, completing a 2-hour and 15 minute lunar EVA.

Walter Cunningham
Walter Cunningham NASA Astronaut (former) joined the Navy in 1951 and began his flight training in 1952. In 1953 he joined a Marine squadron and served on active duty with the United States Marine Corps until August 1956 and in the Marine Corps Reserve program until 1975. His present rank is Colonel, USMCR (Retired). He worked as a scientist for the Rand Corporation prior to joining NASA. While with Rand, he worked on classified defense studies and problems of the earth's magnetosphere.

Daniel C. Brandenstein (Captain, USN, Ret.)
Daniel C. Brandenstein - NASA Astronaut was born January 17, 1943, in Watertown, Wisconsin. Brandenstein was pilot on STS-8, his first flight, which launched at night from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on August 30, 1983. This was the third flight for the Orbiter Challenger and the first mission with a night launch and night landing.

Richard H. Truly (Vice Admiral, USN, Ret.)
Richard H. Truly - NASA Astronaut was born in Fayette, Mississippi, on November 12, 1937. His first flight into space (STS-2, November 12-14, 1981) was as pilot of the Space Shuttle Columbia, significant at the first manned spacecraft to be reflown in space. His second flight (STS-8, August 30 to September 5, 1983) was as commander of the Space Shuttle Challenger, which was the first night launch and landing in the Shuttle program.

Norman E. Thagard (M.D.)
Norman E. Thagard - born July 3, 1943, in Marianna, Florida. Dr. Thagard was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in January 1978. A veteran of five space flights, he has logged over 140 days in space. He was a mission specialist on on STS-7 in 1983, STS 51-B in 1985, STS-30 in 1989, was the payload commander on STS-42 in 1992, and was the cosmonaut/researcher on the Russian Mir 18 mission in 1995.

John M. Fabian (Colonel, USAF, Ret.)
John M. Fabian - NASA Astronaut was born on January 28, 1939, in Goosecreek, Texas, but considers Pullman, Washington, to be his hometown. Fabian first flew as a mission specialist on STS-7, which launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 18, 1983.

Biography of Frederick H. (Rick) Hauck (Captain, U.S. Navy, Retired)
Frederick H. (Rick) Hauck was born April 11, 1941, in Long Beach, California. His parents were the late Captain and Mrs. Philip F. Hauck. During his spare time, he enjoys skiing, sailing, kayaking, tennis, and working on his 1958 Corvette. Rick is married to Susan Cameron Bruce. Together they have five children and six grandchildren. Frederick H. (Rick) Hauck flew aboard STS-7, STS-26 and STS 51-A.

Biography of Robert L. Crippen (Captain, USN, Ret.)
Robert L. Crippen was born in Beaumont, Texas, on September 11, 1937. Married to the former Pandora Lee Puckett of Miami, Florida. Three grown daughters. He flew aboard STS-1, STS-7, STS-41C and STS-41G.

All About Neil Armstrong
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong stepped out of a thin oddly shaped box and into history. That box was the Apollo 11 Lunar Module, which Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. had piloted to the surface of the moon. As Neil Armstrong made that final step from the Lunar Lander ladder, becoming the first man to step on the moon, he uttered that famous phrase, "That's one small step for (a) man; one giant leap for mankind." Now, let's learn more about this incredible man.

From the Mojave to the Moon: Neil Armstrong's Early NASA Years
No Neil Armstrong biography would be complete without this information. Before joining NASA's astronaut corps, Neil Armstrong served as a research pilot at the NASA High Speed Flight Station, now NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center, located on Edwards Air Force Base in Calif., from 1955-1962. That most famous small step Armstrong made on the moon on July 20, 1969 followed the pattern of his flying boots on the tarmac at Dryden years earlier.

Neil Armstrong Quotations
Born on August 5, 1930 on his grandparents’ farm in Auglaize County, Ohio, Neil Armstrong became the first man on the moon on July 20, 1969 during the Apollo 11 mission. These quotations are by and about Neil Armstrong, first man on the moon. Find quotes said by Armstrong as well as quotations about Neil.

Donald K. Slayton Biography
Mr. Slayton was named as one of the Mercury astronauts in April 1959. He was originally scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission but was relieved of this assignment due to a heart condition discovered in August 1959. Slayton became Coordinator of Astronaut Activities in September 1962 and was responsible for the operation of the astronaut office. Born March 1, 1924, in Sparta, Wisconsin. Died June 13, 1993. He is survived by wife, Bobbie, and son, Kent.

Alan B. Shepard Jr. Biography
Rear Admiral Shepard was one of the Mercury astronauts named by NASA in April 1959, & he holds the distinction of being the first American to journey into space. On May 5, 1961, in the Freedom 7 spacecraft, he was launched by a Redstone vehicle on a ballistic trajectory suborbital flight, which carried him to an altitude of 116 statute miles & to a landing point 302 statute miles down the Atlantic Missile Range. Born November 18, 1923, in East Derry, New Hampshire. Died on July 21, 1998.

Virgil I. Grissom Biography
Virgil I. Grissom was born April 3, 1926, in Mitchell., Indiana. Lieutenant Colonel Grissom died on January 27, 1967, in the Apollo spacecraft flash fire during a launch pad test at Kennedy Space Center, Florida. He is survived by his wife Betty and their two children.

L. Gordon Cooper Jr. Biography
Colonel Cooper was selected as a Mercury astronaut in April 1959. On May 15-16, 1963, he piloted the "Faith 7" spacecraft on a 22-orbit mission which concluded the operational phase of Project Mercury. Colonel Cooper has logged 222 hours in space. He retired from the Air Force and NASA in 1970.

Colonel Frederick D. Gregory (USAF, Ret.) Biography
Frederick D. Gregory is the Deputy Administrator of NASA. He assumed this position in August 2002. Frederick D. Gregory was the first African-American to pilot a spacecraft. Frederick D. Gregory was the first African-American to command a spacecraft.

Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. Biography
Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. Biography - First African-American to Walk in Space. Dr. Bernard Harris, Jr. was born on June 26, 1956, the son of Mrs. Gussie H. Burgess, and Mr. Bernard A. Harris, Sr. A native of Temple, Texas, he graduated from Sam Houston High School, San Antonio in 1974. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in biology from University of Houston in 1978 before follwoing that up with a doctorate in medicine from Texas Tech University School of Medicine in 1982.

Doctor Sally Ride Biography - Astronaut
Biography of Doctor Sally Ride, NASA astronaut and the first American woman in space. Tennis’s loss was a boon to the rest of the world as Sally Ride quit her dream of playing professional tennis and became a NASA astronaut. Sally Ride went on to become the first American woman in space.