STS-124

Mark Kelly

• Birthday: 02/21/1964
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 12/05/2001
• Last Flight: 05/16/2011

Mark Edward Kelly is a retired American astronaut, engineer, and retired U.S. Navy Captain. He is the husband of former Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, and is an author, political activist, and aerospace executive and consultant.

A naval aviator, Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War. He was selected to become a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996 and flew his first mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108. He piloted STS-121 in 2006 and commanded STS-124 in 2008 and STS-134 in 2011. STS-134 was his final mission and the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

His wife was the target of an attempted assassination in Tucson, Arizona, on January 8, 2011. After the shooting, in which six people were killed, both Kelly and Giffords were thrust into the media spotlight. His wife’s shooting led to a broad national conversation ranging from the duties of a husband to what is acceptable civil discourse.

Kelly’s identical twin brother, Scott Kelly, is also an astronaut. The Kelly brothers are the only known siblings to have both traveled in space. In 2015, Scott Kelly began a mission spending a year in space on the International Space Station. He returned to Earth on March 1, 2016, after 340 days in space. During and after Scott’s year-long mission, the brothers were studied to find physical differences caused by living in space versus a baseline on Earth.

Kenneth Ham

• Birthday: 12/12/1964
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/31/2008
• Last Flight: 05/14/2010

Kenneth Todd “Hock” Ham is a retired American astronaut and a captain in the United States Navy. Ham was selected for NASA’s astronaut program in August 1998. Ham has served as CAPCOM for Space Shuttle ascent/entry and orbit, as well as the International Space Station (ISS).

Gregory Chamitoff

• Birthday: 08/06/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/31/2008
• Last Flight: 05/16/2011

Gregory Errol Chamitoff is an engineer and NASA astronaut. He was assigned to Expedition 17 and flew to the International Space Station on STS-124, launching 31 May 2008. He was in space for 6 months, joining Expedition 18 after Expedition 17 left the station. He returned to Earth on the 30th of November 2008 aboard STS-126. Chamitoff served as a mission specialist on the STS-134 mission, which was the last flight of Space Shuttle Endeavour which delivered the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the ISS.

Karen Nyberg

• Birthday: 10/07/1969
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/31/2008
• Last Flight: 05/28/2013

Karen LuJean Nyberg is an American mechanical engineer and NASA astronaut. Nyberg became the 50th woman in space on her first mission in 2008.

Nyberg started her space career in 1991 and spent a total of 180 days in space in 2008 and 2013 (as a Mission Specialist on STS-124 and a Flight Engineer on Soyuz TMA-09M).

Ronald J. Garan Jr.

• Birthday: 10/30/1961
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/31/2008
• Last Flight: 04/04/2011

Ronald John Garan Jr. is a NASA astronaut. After graduating from State University of New York College at Oneonta in 1982, he joined the Air Force, becoming a Second Lieutenant in 1984. He became an F-16 pilot, and flew combat missions in Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Before becoming an astronaut he was the Operations Officer of the 40th Flight Test Squadron (FTS). He first flew in space as a Mission Specialist on the STS-124 mission to the International Space Station (ISS). He returned to ISS on April 4, 2011, for a six-month stay as a member of Expedition 27.

Akihiko Hoshide

• Birthday: 12/28/1968
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: Japanese
• First Flight: 05/31/2008
• Last Flight: 04/23/2021

Akihiko Hoshide is a Japanese engineer and JAXA astronaut. On August 30, 2012, Hoshide became the third Japanese astronaut to walk in space. His space selfies from 2012, including another space selfie that was posted on Instagram, appeared at the top of many selfie lists of 2013.

Michael E. Fossum

• Birthday: 12/19/1957
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 07/04/2006
• Last Flight: 06/07/2011

Michael Edward Fossum is a former American astronaut and the Chief Operating Officer of Texas A&M University at Galveston. He flew into space on board the NASA Space Shuttle missions STS-121 and STS-124 and served as a mission specialist of Expedition 28 and commander of Expedition 29 aboard the International Space Station.

STS-124

• Type: Human Exploration
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-124 was a Space Shuttle mission, flown by Space Shuttle Discovery to the International Space Station. Discovery launched on 31 May 2008 at 17:02 EDT, moved from an earlier scheduled launch date of 25 May 2008, and landed safely at the Kennedy Space Center’s Shuttle Landing Facility, at 11:15 EDT on 14 June 2008.

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 173 rockets, including 172 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 231 rocket launches.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

United Space Alliance

United Space Alliance (USA) is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.