Astronaut Birthdays for December

[GordonD]

December 26

 

Barbara Barrett (1950) USA

Selected 2009 (Spaceflight Participant)

Backup for Soyuz TMA-16 but not selected

Retired October 2009; no flights

 

 

Valeri Sharov (1953) USSR

Selected 1990 (Journalist Group)

Retired February 1992; no flights

Died 26 November 2014

 

 

Michael Hopkins (1968) USA

Selected 2009 (NASA Group 20)

Soyuz TMA-10M/ISS Expeditions 37/38, 25 September 2013 - 11 March 2014 (166d 6h 25m)

Still on active status

 

 

 

Information from Spacefacts website

[GordonD]

December 27

 

Naoko Yamazaki (1970) Japan

Selected 1999 (NASDA Group 4)

STS-131, 5 - 20 April 2010 (15d 2h 47m) - Delivered supplies and equipment to the ISS. 

Retired August 2011

 

 

Information from Spacefacts website

[GordonD]

December 28

 

Akihiko Hoshide (1968) Japan

Selected 1999 (NASDA Group 4)

STS-124, 31 May - 14 June 2008 (13d 18h 13m) - Delivered Japanese Kibo Module to the ISS; partial crew exchange (Chamitoff up; Reisman down)

Soyuz TMA-05M/ISS Expeditions 32/33, 15 July - 19 November 2012 (126d 23h 13m)

Still on active status; total flight time to date 140d 17h 26m

 

 

Oleg Artemyev (1970) Russia

Selected 2003

Soyuz TMA-12M/ISS Expeditions 39/40, 25 March - 11 September 2014 (169d 5h 5m)

Soyuz MS-08/ISS Expeditions 55/56, 21 March - 4 October 2018 (196d 18h 0m)

Still on active status; total flight time to date 365d 23h 5m

 

 

 

Information from Spacefacts website

[GordonD]

December 29

 

Nancy Sherlock Currie (1958) USA

Selected 1990 (NASA Group 13)

STS-57, 21 June - 1 July 1993 (9d 23h 44m) - Retrieved EURECA free-flying experiment platform, deployed August 1992

STS-70, 13 - 22 July 1995 (8d 22h 20m) - Deployed TDRS-G communications satellite

STS-88, 4 - 15 December 1998 (11d 19h 18m) - Attached Unity Module to Zarya (ISS base block). First ISS assembly flight

STS-109. 1 - 12 March 2002 (10d 22h 10m) - Fourth Hubble Servicing Mission. Installed new solar arrays, gyroscopes and carried out other maintenance tasks

Total flight time 41d 15h 32m

Retired 2005

 

 

Barry Wilmore (1962) USA

Selected 2008 (NASA Group 18)

STS-129, 16 - 27 November 2009 (10d 19h 16m) - Delivered supplies and equipment to the ISS; also brought down Nicole Stott (no replacement)

Soyuz TMA-14M/ISS Expeditions 41/42 (25 September 2014 - 12 March 2015)

Still on active status; flight time to date 178d 0h 58m

 

 

Yaroslav Pustovyi (1970) Ukraine

Selected 1996

Backup for STS-87

Retiral date unknown; no flights

 

 

Yevgeni Tarelkin (1974) Russia

Selected 2003

Soyuz TMA-06M/ISS Expeditions 33/34, 23 October 2012 - 16 March 2013 (143d 16h 15m)

Retired June 2015

 

 

 

Information from Spacefacts website

[GordonD]

December 30

 

Charles Bassett (1931) USA

Selected 1963 (NASA Group 3)

Assigned to Gemini IX but killed 28 February 1966 in T-38 crash at the McDonnell plant in St Louis while flying to inspect the spacecraft

 

Because of the deaths of Bassett and his colleague Elliot See, Gemini IX was flown by its backup crew, Stafford and Cernan. Had things gone according to plan, then they would have skipped the next two missions and flown Gemini XII, as per NASA's crew selection policy of the time. As things turned out, they were replaced in the reserve slots by the Gemini X backups, Lovell and Aldrin, who under the same policy would have been left with no mission as there was no Gemini XIII. However as  the new backups on Nine, they ultimately flew Gemini XII, and this mission gave Aldrin the flight experience he needed to be eligible for Apollo 11. The demanding first lunar landing (like Apollo 10 before it) had no 'rookie' astronauts, so had Bassett lived then Aldrin would not yet have flown and the historic team of Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins would not have existed. 

 

 

 

Daniel Barry (1953) USA

Selected 1992 (NASA Group 14)

STS-72, 11 - 20 January 1996 (8d 22h 0m) - Retrieved Japanese Space Flyer Unit (launched by expendable rocket in March 1995)

STS-96, 27 May - 6 June 1999 (9d 19h 13m) - Delivered supplies and equipment to the vacant ISS

STS-105, 10 - 22 August 2001 (11d 21h 12m) - Delivered supplies and equipment to the ISS; also crew exchange (Expedition 3 up; Expedition 2 down)

Total flight time 30d 14h 25m

Retired April 2005

 

 

Steven Smith (1958) USA

Selected 1992 (NASA Group 14)

STS-68, 30 September - 11 October 1994 (11d 5h 46m) - Carried Space Radar Laboratory (SRL-2)

STS-82, 11 - 21 February 1997 (9d 23h 37m) - Second Hubble Maintenance Mission: replaced various instruments to expand the telescope's capabilities

STS-103, 20 - 28 December 1999 (7d 23h 10m) - Third Hubble Maintenance Mission: replaced gyroscopes and other equipment

STS-110, 8 - 19 April 2002 (10d 19h 42m) - Delivered S0 Truss plus other equipment and supplies to the ISS

Total flight time 40d 0h 15m

Retired January 2005

 

 

 

Information from Spacefacts website

[GordonD]

December 31

 

Oleg Yakovlev (1940) USSR

Selected 1965

Retired for medical reasons May 1973; no flights

Died of a heart attack 2 May 1990

 

 

Viktor Afanaseyev (1948) USSR

Selected 1985

Soyuz TM-11/Mir Expedition 8, 2 December 1990 - 26 May 1991 (175d 1h 50m)

Soyuz TM-18/Mir Expedition 15, 8 January - 9 July 1994 (182d 0h 27m)

Soyuz TM-29/Mir Expedition 27, 20 February - 28 August 1999 (188d 20h 16m)

Soyuz TM-33/ISS Taxi Flight 2, 21 - 31 October 2001 (9d 19h 59m) - Landed aboard Soyuz TM-32

Total flight time 555d 18h 32m

Retired April 2006

 

 

Martin Fettman (1956) USA

Selected 1991

STS-58, 18 October - 1 November 1993 (14d 0h 12m) - Carried Spacelab Life Sciences (SLS-2)

Retired November 1993

 

 

 

Information from Spacefacts website