Astronauten
Special guests
Ontmoet de astronauten
Tony Antonelli
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-119 (12 days 19 hrs 29 min)
- STS-132 (11 days 18 hrs 28 min)
Trivia:
- Joined the Navy so he could pay his university fees
- He is terrified of heights
Jay Apt
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-37 (5 days 23 hrs 32 min)
- STS-47 (7 days 22 hrs 30 min)
- STS-59 (11 days 5 hrs 49 min)
- STS-79 (10 days 3 hrs 18 min)
Trivia:
- Before becoming an astronaut, he worked on the Pioneer Venus probe that flew to the planet in 1978
- In 2012, the International Astronomical Union approved the name "Jeromeapt" for the main-belt asteroid 116903, as suggested by its discoverer, James Young
Mike Baker
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-43 (8 days 21 hrs 21 min)
- STS-52 (9 days 20 hrs 56 min)
- STS-68 (11 days 5 hrs 46 min)
- STS-81 (10 days 4 hrs 55 min)
Trivia:
-
Attended every Soyuz launch to the International Space Station between 1999 and 2017: more than 50.
John-David Bartoe
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-51F (7 days 22 hrs 45 min)
Trivia:
- ASE Distinguished Member
- On his ‘career list’ growing up he said that number one was to be a cowboy. Number two was to be an astronaut. Number three was a fireman.
Bob Cabana
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-41 (4 days 2 hrs 10 min)
- STS-53 (7 days 7 hrs 19 min)
- STS-65 (14 days 17 hrs 55 min)
- STS-88 (11 days 19 hrs 18 min)
Trivia:
- Commanded the first Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station
- Was the ninth director of the NASA John C. Stennis Space Center in Mississippi (2007-2008)
- Was the 10th director of the NASA Kennedy Space Center (2008-2021), and the third astronaut in that role after Bob Crippen and Roy Bridges
Chris Cassidy
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-127 (15 days 16 hrs 45 min)
- Soyuz TMA-08M (166 days 6 hrs 15 min)
- Soyuz MS-16 (195 days 18 hrs 49 min)
Trivia:
- Second (former) US Navy SEAL to fly in space
- Joint US record holder for number of EVAs conducted
Cady Coleman
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-73 (15 days 21 hrs 52 min)
- STS-93 (4 days 22 hrs 49 min)
- Soyuz TMA-20 (159 days 7 hrs 17 min)
Trivia:
- Was a member of the astronaut band Bandella, where she played the flute
- Crewmember on the last shuttle flight to deploy a major satellite (Chandra)
Jan Davis
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-47 (7 days 22 hrs 30 min)
- STS-60 (8 days 7 hrs 9 min)
- STS-85 (11 days 20 hrs 26 min)
Trivia:
- First and to date only astronaut to fly in space with her spouse
Pedro Duque
Spain
Missies:
- STS-95 (8 days 21 hrs 44 min)
- Soyuz TMA-3 (9 days 21 hrs 2 min)
Trivia:
-
First Spanish citizen in space
Reinhold Ewald
Germany
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-25 (19 days 16 hrs 34 min)
Trivia:
- Last astronaut to fly for the German aerospace agency DLR instead of ESA
- Holds a black belt in karate
John Fabian
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-7 (6 days 2 hrs 24 min)
- STS-51G (7 days 1 hr 39 min)
Trivia:
- ASE Distinguished Member
- Member of the first five-person crew in history
- Was the first to use the shuttle’s robotic arm to deploy and subsequently retrieve a satellite
Bertalan Farkas
Hungary
Missies:
- Soyuz-36 (7 days 20 hrs 45 min)
Trivia:
- ASE Founding Member
- First Hungarian in space
Drew Feustel
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-125 (12 days 21 hrs 37 min)
- STS-134 (15 days 17 hrs 38 min)
- Soyuz MS-8 (196 days 18 hrs 0 min)
Trivia:
- Was the last (together with John Grunsfeld) to do repair work on the Hubble Space Telescope
- Was a member of the astronaut band Max Q, where he played lead guitar
Mike Fincke
United States of America
Missies:
- Soyuz TMA-4 (187 days 21 hrs 16 min)
- Soyuz TMA-13 (178 days 0 hrs 13 min)
- STS-134 (15 days 17 hrs 38 min)
Trivia:
- Was backup for five missions
- Studied Cosmonautics at the Moscow Aviation Institute during a summer exchange program in 1989
- Was a guest star on the final episode of Star Trek: Enterprise.
Anna Fisher
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-51A (7 days 23 hrs 44 min)
Trivia:
- One of the first six women selected in the NASA astronaut corps
- Assigned to STS-51A two weeks before giving birth to her daughter. She flew when daughter was 14 months, and as such was the first mother to fly in space. Last of the 1978 NASA astronaut selection group to retire from the Astronaut Office in 2017
Klaus-Dietrich Flade
Germany
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-14 (7 days 21 hrs 56 min)
Trivia:
- First German to fly on Soyuz
Mike Foreman
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-123 (15 days 18 hrs 11 min)
- STS-129 (10 days 19 hrs 16 min)
Trivia:
- Mayor of Friendswood, Texas, a town near the NASA Johnson Space Center where several astronauts and NASA management live/lived
Mike Fossum
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-121 (12 days 18 hrs 36 min)
- STS-124 (13 days 18 hrs 13 min)
- Soyuz TMA-02M (167 days 6 hrs 12 min)
Trivia:
- It took Fossum seven attempts to be selected as a NASA astronaut
Dirk Frimout
Belgium
Missies:
- STS-45 (8 days 22 hrs 9 min)
Trivia:
- First Belgian in space
- Became Viscount Frimout after his flight
Andrew Gaffney
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-40 (9 days 2 hrs 14 min)
Trivia:
- Had a catheter placed in his heart several days prior to the flight, which was removed after inflight measurements were completed. He submitted his experiment proposal 13 years earlier
Richard Garriott de Cayeaux
United States of America
Missies:
- Soyuz TMA-13 (11 days 20 hrs 35 min)
Trivia:
- Son of former NASA astronaut Owen K. Garriott
- First US second generation flier
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Explore/Create’
- Traveled to the bottom of the deepest place on Earth, the Mariana Trench
- Only private owner of a spacecraft (Luna-21) and rover (Lunokhod-2) on the moon. He bought both at a Sotheby’s auction in 1993.
Alper Gezeravci
Turkey
Missies:
- Axiom Ax-3 (21 days 15 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- First Turkish astronaut
- Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Mike Lopez-Alegria, Walter Villadei and Marcus Wandt)
Sarah Gillis
United States of America
Missies:
Mission: Polaris Dawn (4 days 22 hrs 13 min)
Mission: Polaris Dawn (4 days 22 hrs 13 min)
Trivia:
- First private astronaut to conduct an EVA (together with Jared Isaacman)
- Has been further away from Earth (together with Anna Menon) than any other female astronaut in history
- Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Jared Isaacman, Anna Menon and Scott Poteet)
Victor Glover
United States of America
Missies:
- SpaceX Crew-1 (167 days 6 hrs 29 min)
Trivia:
- His nickname is ‘Ike’, which was given to him by a former commanding officer. ‘Ike’ reportedly stands for “I Know Everything”
- Assigned to Artemis-2, the first mission to the moon in over 55 years
Linda Godwin
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-37 (5 days 23 hrs 32 min)
- STS-59 (11 days 5 hrs 49 min)
- STS-76 (9 days 5 hrs 16 min)
- STS-108 (11 days 19 hrs 35 min)
Trivia:
- After her first spaceflight, she married the mission’s commander, Steve Nagel
Claudie Haigneré
France
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-24 (15 days 18 hrs 23 min)
- Soyuz TM-33 (9 days 19 hrs 59 min)
Trivia:
- First French woman to fly in space
- First female ESA astronaut to fly in space
- Was her future husband Jean-Pierre Haigneré’s backup for Soyuz TM-17
Jean-Pierre Haigneré
France
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-17 (20 days 16 hrs 8 min)
- Soyuz TM-29 (188 days 20 hrs 16 min)
Trivia:
- First French astronaut to fly a long-duration mission
Bernard Harris
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-55 (9 days 23 hrs 40 min)
- STS-63 (8 days 6 hrs 28 min)
Trivia:
- Flew on the first Space Shuttle mission to the Russian Mir space station (the only one that didn’t dock)
Susan Helms
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-54 (5 days 23 hrs 38 min)
- STS-64 (10 days 22 hrs 49 min)
- STS-78 (16 days 21 hrs 47 min)
- STS-101 (9 days 20 hrs 9 min)
- STS-102 (167 days 6 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- First female astronaut to reach the rank of Lieutenant General in the US Air Force
- Conducted the longest EVA in history, on STS-102 (together with James Voss): 8 hrs 55 min
- Was a member of the astronaut band Max Q (keyboards)
Richard Hieb
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-39 (8 days 7 hrs 22 min)
- STS-49 (8 days 21 hrs 17 min)
- STS-65 (14 days 17 hrs 55 min)
Trivia:
- Took part in the first three-person EVA (STS-49, with Tom Akers and Pierre Thuot)
- At the STS-49 launch he stood 1.87 m. Measured for an experiment three days later, he was 1.90 m. He announced from orbit he was now officially too tall to fly in space!
Joan Higginbotham
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-116 (12 days 20 hrs 44 min)
Trivia:
- Started her career at NASA in Florida, only two weeks after graduating from Southern Illinois University Carbondale [SIUC] in 1987
- Had applied unsuccessfully for NASA’s 1994 selection, but was selected in 1996
Kay Hire
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-90 (15 days 21 hrs 50 min)
- STS-130 (13 days 18 hrs 6 min)
Trivia:
- First employee from the NASA Kennedy Space Center to be selected as an astronaut candidate (1994)
- Recalled to active duty by the US Navy in support of Operation Enduring Freedom & Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Jeffrey Hoffman
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-51D (6 days 23 hrs 55 min)
- STS-35 (8 days 23 hrs 5 min)
- STS-46 (7 days 23 hrs 15 min)
- STS-61 (10 days 19 hrs 58 min)
- STS-75 (15 days 17 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- One of two crewmembers who performed the first unscheduled EVA in history, during STS-51D, to attempt repairing a satellite
- Took part in the first Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission, during which a serious flaw in the telescope was repaired
Jared Isaacman
United States of America
Missies:
- Inspiration4 (2 days 23 hrs 3 min)
- Polaris Dawn (4 days 22 hrs 13 min)
Trivia:
- Commanded the first two all-private spaceflights
- First private astronaut to conduct an EVA (together with Sarah Gillis)
- First to test SpaceX’s EVA suit in open space
- Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Sarah Gillis, Anna Menon and Scott Poteet)
Tammy Jernigan
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-40 (9 days 2 hrs 14 min)
- STS-52 (9 days 20 hrs 56 min)
- STS-67 (16 days 15 hrs 8 min)
- STS-80 (17 days 15 hrs 53 min)
- STS-96 (9 days 19 hrs 13 min)
Trivia:
- Crewmember on the longest Space Shuttle flight (STS-80)
- Two EVAs she was to perform on STS-80 were canceled due to a problem with the airlock hatch.
Scott Kelly
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-103 (7 days 23 hrs 10 min)
- STS-118 (12 days 17 hrs 55 min)
- Soyuz TMA-01M (159 days 8 hrs 43 min)
- Soyuz TMA-16M (340 days 8 hrs 42 min)
Trivia:
- First twin to fly in space
- Wrote an autobiography titled Endurance: A Year in Space, a Lifetime of Discovery
Kevin Kregel
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-70 (8 days 22 hrs 20 min)
- STS-78 (16 days 21 hrs 47 min)
- STS-87 (15 days 16 hrs 34 min)
- STS-99 (11 days 5 hrs 38 min)
Trivia:
- After his astronaut career he became a civilian airline pilot for Southwest Airlines, flying Boeing-737’s
André Kuipers
Nederland
Missies:
- Soyuz TMA-4 (10 days 20 hrs 52 min)
- Soyuz TMA-3M (192 days 18 hrs 58 min)
Trivia:
- First Dutch astronaut to fly in space twice
- Celebrates his birthday during the congress
Michael Lopez-Alegria
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-73 (15 days 21 hrs 52 min)
- STS-92 (12 days 21 hrs 42 min)
- STS-113 (13 days 18 hrs 47 min)
- Soyuz TMA-9 (215 days 8 hrs 22 min)
- Axiom Ax-1 (17 days 1 hr 49 min)
- Axiom Ax-3 (21 days 15 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- Flew in orbit with a record 54 different crewmates, from ten nations (Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Turkey and US)
- Most experienced US spacewalker (duration)
- Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Alper Gezeravci, Mike Lopez-Alegria and Walter Villadei)
Tom Marshburn
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-127 (15 days 16 hrs 45 min)
- Soyuz TMA-07 (145 days 14 hrs 18 min)
- SpaceX Crew-3 (176 days 2 hrs 39 min)
Trivia:
- To date he is oldest person to have conducted an EVA
Matthias Maurer
Germany
Missies:
- SpaceX Crew-3 (176 days 2 hrs 39 min)
Trivia:
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Cosmic Kiss, Sechs Monate auf der ISS’
- One of the first two non-Chinese astronauts to undergo spaceflight training in China
Bill McArthur
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-58 (14 days 0 hrs 12 min)
- STS-74 (8 days 4 hrs 30 min)
- STS-92 (12 days 21 hrs 42 min)
- Soyuz TMA-7 (189 days 19 hrs 52 min)
Trivia:
- For his fourth spaceflight, he was scheduled to fly together with André Kuipers on Soyuz TMA-4, but was medically disqualified and replaced in the crew. He flew on a later mission.
Anna Menon
United States of America
Missies:
- Polaris Dawn (4 days 22 hrs 13 min)
Trivia:
- Has been further away from Earth (together with Sarah Gillis) than any other female astronaut in history
- Although she didn’t conduct an EVA herself, she was in vacuum during the EVA by Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis, but didn’t exit the spacecraft
- Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Sarah Gillis, Jared Isaacman, and Scott Poteet)
Ulf Merbold
Germany
Missies:
- STS-9 (10 days 7 hrs 47 min)
- STS-42 (8 days 1 hr 14 min)
- Soyuz TM-20 (31 days 12 hrs 35 min)
Trivia:
- First West German to fly in space
- First ESA astronaut to fly in space
- First non-American to fly on the Space Shuttle
- First ESA astronaut to fly on Soyuz
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Flug ins All’
Ernst Messerschmid
Germany
Missies:
- STS-61A (7 days 0 hrs 44 min)
Trivia:
- Was a candidate for ESA’s first astronaut selection (1977-1978) but not selected
- Member of the first (and so far only) mission with an eight-person crew
Paolo Nespoli
Italy
Missies:
- STS-120 (15 days 2 hrs 23 min)
- Soyuz TMA-20 (159 days 7 hrs 17 min)
- Soyuz MS-05 (138 days 16 hrs 56 min)
Trivia:
- First Italian astronaut to spend more than 300 days in orbit
- Wrote a autobiography titled ‘Farsi Spazio’
Danny Olivas
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-117 (13 days 20 hrs 11 min)
- STS-128 (13 days 20 hrs 53 min)
Trivia:
- Was a contestant on Nickelodeon's revival of “Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?” in June 2019
Mark Pathy
Canada
Missies:
- Axiom Ax-1 (17 days 1 hr 49 min)
Trivia:
- Member of the first all-private astronaut crew to the ISS
Julie Payette
Canada
Missies:
- STS-96 (9 days 19 hrs 13 min)
- STS-127 (15 days 16 hrs 45 min)
Trivia:
- First Canadian woman to fly in space twice
- Youngest Canadian to fly in space
- Served as Governor-General of Canada (2017-2021)
John Phillips
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-100 (11 days 21 hrs 30 min)
- Soyuz TMA-6 (179 days 0 hrs 23 min)
- STS-119 (12 days 19 hrs 29 min)
Trivia:
- Attended the same high school as former U.S. Vice-President Dan Quayle
- On 14 June 2005, he became the first person ever to testify before congress from Earth orbit, via a live video feed
Marcos Pontes
Brasil
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-8 (9 days 21 hrs 17 min)
Trivia:
- First Brazilian in space
- First South American in space
- Trained and graduated as Mission Specialist in NASA’s 1998 selection group
- Brazilian Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (2019-2022)
- Senator of the state São Paulo
Dorin Prunariu
Romania
Missies:
- Soyuz-40 (7 days 20 hrs 41 min)
Trivia:
- ASE Founding Member
- ASE Distinguished Member
- First Romanian in space
Thomas Reiter
Germany
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-22 (179 days 1 hr 41 min)
- STS-121 (171 days 3 hrs 54 min)
Trivia:
- First German astronaut to spend over 350 days in orbit
- First German to conduct an EVA
Jerry Ross
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-61B (6 days 21 hrs 4 min)
- STS-27 (4 days 9 hrs 5 min)
- STS-37 (5 days 23 hrs 32 min)
- STS-55 (9 days 23 hrs 40 min)
- STS-74 (8 days 4 hrs 30 min)
- STS-88 (11 days 19 hrs 18 min)
- STS-110 (10 days 19 hrs 42 min)
Trivia:
- First astronaut to fly seven missions
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Spacewalker’
Mario Runco Jr.
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-44 (6 days 22 hrs 50 min)
- STS-54 (5 days 23 hrs 38 min)
- STS-77 (10 days 0 hrs 39 min)
Trivia:
- First (former) police officer to fly in space
Rusty Schweickart
United States of America
Missies:
- Apollo-9 (10 days 1 hr 0 min)
Trivia:
- ASE Founding Member
- ASE Distinguished Members
- Only pre-shuttle flier at this congress
- First flier to orbit Earth in a spaceship that had no capability to return to Earth (together with Jim McDivitt)
Helen Sharman
United Kingdom
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-12 (7 days 21 hrs 13 min)
Trivia:
- First British astronaut
- First European woman in space
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Seize the Moment’
Eytan Stibbe
Israel
Missies:
- Axiom Ax-1 (17 days 1 hr 49 min)
Trivia:
- Since Stibbe also holds Dutch citizenship, he is the third Dutch astronaut, after Wubbo Ockels and André Kuipers
- Crew member of the first all-private spaceflight to the International Space Station
Tang HongBo
China
Missies:
- Shenzhou-12 (92 days 4 hrs 11 min)
- Shenzhou-17 (187 days 6 hrs 32 min)
Trivia:
- Member of the first crew to fly on the Chinese Tiangong Space Station
- First to fly a second mission to the Tiangong Space Station
Norman Thagard
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-7 (6 days 2 hrs 24 min)
- STS-51B (7 days 0 hrs 8 min)
- STS-30 (4 days 0 hrs 56 min)
- STS-42 (8 days 1 hr 14 min)
- Soyuz TM-21 (115 days 8 hrs 43 min)
Trivia:
- First US astronaut to be launched by a non-US spacecraft
- First US astronaut to fly on a Russian space station
- First flier to land in another country than the country from which he was launched (with Gennadiy Strekalov and Vladimir Dezhurov)
Gerhard Thiele
Germany
Missies:
- STS-99 (11 days 5 hrs 38 min)
Trivia:
- Was André Kuipers’ backup for Soyuz TMA-4
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Astronauten, eine Familiengeschichte’ (together with his daughter Insa, who was selected for the private ‘Die Astronautin’ project that aimed to fly the first German woman in space)
Michel Tognini
France
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-15 (13 days 18 hrs 56 min)
- STS-93 (4 days 22 hrs 49 min)
Trivia:
- First French astronaut to undergo NASA mission specialist training (together with Jean-Loup Chrétien)
- Celebrates his birthday during the congress
Franz Viehböck
Austria
Missies:
- Soyuz TM-13 (7 days 22 hrs 12 min)
Trivia:
- ASE Distinguished Member
- First Austrian in space
- Wrote an autobiography titled ‘Austromir 91’
Walter Villadei
Italy
Missies:
- Axiom Ax-3 (21 days 15 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- Was the first astronaut from an ESA member state who didn’t fly as ESA astronaut since the various national teams were merged into the ESA astronaut corps in 1998
- Villadei’s flight was not sponsored by Italy’s national space agency ASI, but by the Italian Air Force
-
Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Mike Lopez-Alegria, Alper Gezeravci and Marcus Wandt)
Jim Voss
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-54 (5 days 23 hrs 38 min)
- STS-64 (10 days 22 hrs 49 min)
- STS-78 (16 days 21 hrs 47 min)
- STS-101 (9 days 20 hrs 9 min)
- STS-102 (167 days 6 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- Conducted the longest EVA in history, on STS-102 (together with Susan Helms): 8 hrs 55 min
Koichi Wakata
Japan
Missies:
- STS-72 (8 days 22 hrs 0 min)
- STS-92 (12 days 21 hrs 42 min)
- STS-119 (137 days 15 hrs 4 min)
- Soyuz TMA-11M (187 days 21 hrs 44 min)
- SpaceX Crew-5 (157 days 10 hrs 1 min)
Trivia:
- Only Japanese astronaut to have spent more than 500 days in orbit
- Joined the Axiom astronaut team in April 2024
Ulrich Walter
Germany
Missies:
- STS-55 (9 days 23 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- Has written several books explaining spaceflight related subjects
Carl Walz
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-51 (9 days 20 hrs 11 min)
- STS-65 (14 days 17 hrs 55 min)
- STS-79 (10 days 3 hrs 18 min)
- STS-108 (195 days 19 hrs 38 min)
Trivia:
- Was a member (lead vocals) of the astronaut band Max Q
Marcus Wandt
Sweden
Missies:
- Axiom Ax-3 (21 days 15 hrs 40 min)
Trivia:
- First of ESA’s 2022 ‘reserve astronaut’ corps to fly in space
- One of the first two Scandinavians to fly in space together
- Most recently flown flier at this congress (together with Mike Lopez-Alegria, Alper Gezeravci and Walter Villadei)
Mary Ellen Weber
United States of America
Missies:
- STS-70 (8 days 22 hrs 20 min)
- STS-101 (9 days 20 hrs 9 min)
Trivia:
- STS-70 was unique in that four of the five crewmembers assigned to the flight were from Ohio. After the governor of Ohio issued a proclamation making the fifth crewmember [Commander Kevin Kregel] an 'Honorary Ohioan' this flight became known as 'The All-Ohio Space Shuttle Mission.'
Yang LiWei
China
Missies:
- Shenzhou-5 (21 hrs 23 min)
Trivia:
- First Chinese citizen in space
- First person to be launched by and from another country than Russia or the US
- Last person (to date) to fly a solo mission
Zhai Zhigang
China
Missies:
- Shenzhou-7 (2 days 20 hrs 27 min)
- Shenzhou-13 (182 days 9 hrs 32 min)
Trivia:
- Was backup to Yang Liwei on China’s first manned spaceflight
- First Chinese to conduct an EVA