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Norman E. Thagard

American - (NASA)

Retired

Date of Birth: July 3, 1943
Age: 81


Norman Earl Thagard (born July 3, 1943), (Capt, USMC, Ret.), is an American scientist and former U.S. Marine Corps officer and naval aviator and NASA astronaut. He is the first American to ride to space on board a Russian vehicle, and can be considered the first American cosmonaut. He did on this on March 14, 1995, in the Soyuz TM-21 spacecraft for the Russian Mir-18 mission.

Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-7

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
June 18, 1983, 11:33 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-7 was the second mission for the Space Shuttle Challenger. It deployed several satellites into orbit. It was the first mission scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center however it had to divert to Edwards Air Force Base due to bad weather. STS-7 carried Sally Ride, America's first female astronaut.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Challenger / OV-099 | STS-51-B

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
April 29, 1985, 4:02 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-51-B was the seventeenth flight of the shuttle program and the seventh for Space Shuttle Challenger. It was the second flight for SpaceLab.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-30

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
May 4, 1989, 6:46 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-30 was the twenty-ninth space shuttle mission and the fourth of Atlantis. It was the first mission since the challenger disaster to have a female astronaut on board. It deployed the Venus-bound Magellan probe into orbit.

Low Earth Orbit
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Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-42

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 22, 1992, 2:52 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-42 was a Space Shuttle Discovery mission with the Spacelab module. The main goal of the mission was to study the effects of microgravity on a variety of organisms.

Low Earth Orbit
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Soyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-21

Soviet Space Program | Russia
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
March 14, 1995, 6:11 a.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

Soyuz TM-21 was the 21st mission and the 18th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. It was also a part of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program. The mission began on March 14, 1995, 06:11:34 UTC, launching Commander Vladimir Dezhurov, Flight Engineer Gennady Strekalov and Research Cosmonaut Norman Thagard (who became the first American to ride the Soyuz) into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed several EVAs to prepare for the docking of the new Spektr module. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the STS-71 with the 19th expedition crew. Crews exchanged vehicles, and members of the 18th expedition returned aboard STS-71, landing safely back on Earth on 7 July 1995, 14:55:28 UTC. Soyuz TM-21 brought back the 19th expedition later on September 11, 1995, 06:52:40 UTC.

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Space Shuttle Atlantis / OV-104 | STS-71

National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of America
Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA
June 27, 1995, 7:32 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:

STS-71 was the third mission of the US/Russian Shuttle-Mir Program and the first Space Shuttle docking to Russian space station Mir. It started on 27 June 1995 with the launch of Space Shuttle Atlantis from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The shuttle delivered a relief crew of two cosmonauts Anatoly Solovyev and Nikolai Budarin to the station and recovered Increment astronaut Norman Thagard. Atlantis returned to Earth on 7 July with a crew of eight. It was the first of seven straight missions to Mir flown by Atlantis.

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Administrator: Bill Nelson

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for the civilian space program, as well as aeronautics and aerospace research. NASA have many launch facilities but most are inactive. The most commonly used pad will be LC-39B at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.


Falcon 9
Success
1 hour, 39 minutes ago
Starlink Group 6-77
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USA

A batch of 23 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.


Electron
Success
2 days, 11 hours ago
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes
Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1B - Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1, Mahia Peninsula, New Zealand

Launch of a yet to identified satellite to SSO for an undisclosed customer. The customer is suspected to be Low Earth Orbit communication satellite c…


Falcon 9
Success
2 days, 19 hours ago
Dragon CRS-2 SpX-31
Launch Complex 39A - Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

31st commercial resupply services mission to the International Space Station operated by SpaceX. The flight will be conducted under the second Commer…


Soyuz 2.1b/Fregat-M
Success
2 days, 22 hours ago
Ionosfera-M 1 & 2
Cosmodrome Site 1S - Vostochny Cosmodrome, Siberia, Russian Federation

Ionosfera is a constellation of four ionospheric and magnetospheric research satellites developed by for Roscosmos for the project Ionozond. The s…


H3-22
Success
3 days, 15 hours ago
DSN 3 (Kirameki 3)
Yoshinobu Launch Complex LP-2 - Tanegashima Space Center, Japan

DSN 3, also known as Kirameki 3, is a geostationary communications satellite to be used for military communications by the Japanese military.