Ulf Merbold
German - (ESA)
Retired
Date of Birth: June 20, 1941
Age: 83
Dr. Ulf Dietrich Merbold (born June 20, 1941) is the first West German citizen and second German native (after Sigmund Jähn) to have flown in space. He is also the first member of the European Space Agency Astronaut Corps to participate in a spaceflight mission and the first non-US citizen to reach orbit in a US spacecraft. In 1983, he and Byron Lichtenberg became the first Payload Specialists to fly on the shuttle.
Space Shuttle Columbia / OV-102 | STS-9
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Nov. 28, 1983, 4 p.m.
Space Shuttle Discovery / OV-103 | STS-42
National Aeronautics and Space Administration | United States of AmericaKennedy Space Center, FL, USA
Jan. 22, 1992, 2:52 p.m.
Soyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-19
Soviet Space Program | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
July 1, 1994, 12:24 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:
Soyuz TM-19 was the 19th mission and the 16th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on July 1, 1994, 12:24:50 UTC, launching Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer Talgat Musabayev into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed two EVAs, carried out various scientific experiments in medicine, material sciences, astrophysics etc. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-20 crew. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on November 4, 1994, 11:18:26 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitSoyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-20
Soviet Space Program | RussiaBaikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of Kazakhstan
Oct. 3, 1994, 10:42 p.m.
Status: Success
Mission:
Soyuz TM-20 was the 20th mission and the 17th long-duration expedition to Mir space station. The mission began on October 3, 1994, 22:42:30 UTC, launching Commander Alexander Viktorenko, Flight Engineer Yelena Kondakova and Research Cosmonaut Ulf Merbold into orbit. They docked with Mir two days later. During their stay there, cosmonauts performed two EVAs, carried out various scientific experiments. Station crew was visited by several Progress resupply spacecrafts, and welcomed aboard the Soyuz TM-21 crew. During this mission the first rendezvous maneuver of the Space Shuttle STS-63 with the Mir space station was performed. The mission concluded with a safe landing back on Earth on March 22, 1995, 04:04:05 UTC.
Low Earth OrbitThe European Space Agency is an intergovernmental organisation of 22 member states. Established in 1975 and headquartered in Paris, France, ESA has a worldwide staff of about 2,000 employees. ESA's space flight programme includes human spaceflight (mainly through participation in the International Space Station program); the launch and operation of unmanned exploration missions to other planets and the Moon; Earth observation, science and telecommunication; designing launch vehicles; and maintaining a major spaceport, the Guiana Space Centre at Kourou, French Guiana.
New Shepard
NS-28
West Texas Suborbital Launch Site/ Corn Ranch - Corn Ranch, Van Horn, TX, USATwenty-eighth flight of New Shepard carrying six passengers.
Falcon 9
Starlink Group 6-66
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAA batch of 24 satellites for the Starlink mega-constellation - SpaceX's project for space-based Internet communication system.
Soyuz 2.1a
Progress MS-29 (90P)
31/6 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Republic of KazakhstanProgress resupply mission to the International Space Station.
Starship
Integrated Flight Test 6
Orbital Launch Mount A - SpaceX Starbase, TX, USASixth test flight of the two-stage Starship launch vehicle.
Falcon 9
GSAT-20 (GSAT-N2)
Space Launch Complex 40 - Cape Canaveral SFS, FL, USAGSAT-20 is an Indian geostationary Ka-band high-throughput communications satellite. GSAT 20 is reportedly built on the I-6K unified modular bus a…
