STS-77

John Casper

• Birthday: 07/09/1943
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 02/28/1990
• Last Flight: 05/19/1996

John Howard Casper is an American astronaut and United States Air Force pilot.

Curtis Brown

• Birthday: 03/11/1956
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 09/12/1992
• Last Flight: 12/20/1999

Curtis Lee “Curt” Brown Jr. is a former NASA astronaut and retired United States Air Force colonel.

Marc Garneau

• Birthday: 02/23/1949
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: Canadian
• First Flight: 10/05/1984
• Last Flight: 12/01/2000

Garneau was one of the first Canadian Astronauts and he became the first Canadian in outer space in October 1984. In 1984, he was seconded to the new Canadian Astronaut Program (CAP), one of six chosen from over 4,000 applicants. He flew on the shuttle Challenger, STS-41-G from October 5 to 13, 1984, as payload specialist. He was promoted to Captain in 1986, and left the Navy in 1989, to become deputy director of the CAP. In 1992–93, he underwent further training to become a mission specialist. He worked as CAPCOM for a number of shuttle flights and was on two further flights himself: STS-77 (May 19 to 29, 1996) and STS-97 (to the ISS, November 30 to December 11, 2000). He has logged over 677 hours in space.

In February 2001, he was appointed executive vice-president of the Canadian Space Agency, and became its president on November 22, 2001.

Mario Runco Jr.

• Birthday: 01/26/1952
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 11/24/1991
• Last Flight: 05/19/1996

Mario Runco Jr. is a former United States Navy officer and NASA astronaut. He is an Earth and planetary physicist.

Andy Thomas

• Birthday: 12/18/1951
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 05/19/1996
• Last Flight: 07/26/2005

Andrew “Andy” Sydney Withiel Thomas, AO is an Australian-born American aerospace engineer and a NASA astronaut. He became a U.S. citizen in December 1986, hoping to gain entry to NASA’s astronaut program. He is married to fellow NASA astronaut Shannon Walker.

Daniel W. Bursch

• Birthday: 07/25/1957
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 09/12/1993
• Last Flight: 12/05/2001

Daniel Wheeler Bursch is a former NASA astronaut, and Captain of the United States Navy. He had four spaceflights, the first three of which were Space Shuttle missions lasting 10 to 11 days each. His fourth and final spaceflight was a long-duration stay aboard the International Space Station as a crew member of Expedition 4, which lasted from December 2001 to June 2002. This 196-day mission set a new record for the longest duration spaceflight for an American astronaut, a record simultaneously set with his crew mate Carl Walz. Their record has since been broken, and as of 2016 it is held by Scott Kelly, who flew a 340 day mission during Expeditions 43, 44 and 45.

STS-77

• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-77 was the 77th Space Shuttle mission and the 11th mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. The mission began from launch pad 39B from Kennedy Space Center, Florida on 19 May 1996 lasting 10 days and 40 minutes and completing 161 revolutions before landing on runway 33.

Launch Complex 39B

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39B has witnessed the launch of 58 rockets, including 57 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 232 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.