GordonD Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 In compiling the daily Astronaut Birthday post I've noticed how often two members of the same crew have birthdays within just a few days of each other. For instance today (20 September) is the birthday of James Pawelczyk, who flew as Payload Specialist on STS-90/Neurolab. Yesterday was the birthday of Richard Linnehan, who was a Mission Specialist on the same flight. Given that a typical Shuttle crew consisted of seven people, and there are 366 possible birthdays for them, you would think they would be a bit more widely scattered, but it doesn't work out that way. According to Wikipedia in a random group of seven people "it is more likely than not that two of them will have a birthday within a week of each other". So if you read details of a mission and think, "Hang on, I saw that just the other day!" then you're probably right, and no I'm not making it up as I go along! You may be familiar with the 'Birthday Paradox'. In a completely random group of people, how many do you think you would need for there to be a 50/50 chance that two will share a birthday? The answer is twenty-three. And in a group of just 75 people there's a 99.9 chance of a match. This may be easier to understand than the Wikipedia article!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pdsvidioman Posted September 20, 2018 Share Posted September 20, 2018 Thanks for the info'. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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