Spaceflight Reference Libraries

Stephanie Wilson is an American engineer, a NASA astronaut, and the second African American woman to go into space. She was born Stephanie Diana Wilson on September 27, 1966 in Boston, Massachusetts. An astronomy professor she interviewed during middle school became her first inspiration to pursue a career in space. She graduated from Taconic High School in Pittsfield, Massachusetts in 1984,...

Dick Scobee was an American astronaut. He was born Francis Richard "Dick" Scobee on May 19, 1939 in Cle Elum, Washington. He was raised in Auburn, Washington and attended Washington Elementary, Cascade Middle School, and Auburn Senior High School, where he earned his high school diploma in 1957. That same year, he enlisted in the United States Air Force and initially served as an engine...

Sunita Williams is an American astronaut and a United States Navy officer who holds the record for the longest space flight by a woman. She was born Sunita Pandya Krishna on September 19, 1965 in Euclid, Ohio to parents of Indian and Slovenian decent. She graduated from Needham High School in Needham, Massachusetts in 1983, and then went on to receive a Bachelor of Science degree in Physical...

Terry W. Virts, Jr. is a Colonel in the United States Air Force and an active American astronaut. Virts was born on December 1, 1967 in Baltimore, Maryland. He attended Oakland Mills High School in Columbia, Massachusetts and graduated 1985. He enrolled in the United States Air Force Academy, where he graduated with honors in 1989, receiving his Bachelor of Science in mathematics. He then...

Roberto Vittori is an ESA astronaut as well as an Italian Air Force Officer and a test pilot for the United States. Vittorri was born on October 15, 1964 in Viterbo, Lazio, Italy and attended the Italian Air Force Academy, graduating in 1989. While working towards his graduation from the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland in 1995, Vittori operated the Tornado GR1 along...

Stephen Nathaniel Frick is an American astronaut having flown two Space Shuttle missions. Frick was also appointed as a United States Naval officer and qualified as an F/A-18 fighter pilot. Frick was born on September 30, 1964 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Pine-Richland High School in Gibsonia, Pennsylvania in 1982. After receiving his high school diploma, Frick went on to...

James Shelton Voss is a retired NASA astronaut as well as a retired United States Army Colonel. Voss now serves as the Vice President of Engineering at SpaceDev. On March 3, 1949, Voss was born in Cordova, Alabama but later moved to Opelika, Alabama to live and be raised by his grandparents. He went on to join the wrestling team at Opelika High School and after graduating, he went on to join...

Janice Elaine Voss was a NASA astronaut as well as an American Engineer whom flew in space five times placing her at first for holding the record for American women. Voss was born on October 8, 1956 in South Bend, Indiana. She attended Minnechaug Regional High School in Wilbraham, Massachusetts and graduated in 1972. She then attended Purdue University to receive her bachelor’s degree in...

Lodewijk van den Berg is a naturalized American chemical engineer born in the Netherlands whom was rather dedicated to crystal growth and also rode aboard as a payload specialist on the 1985 Space Shuttle Challenger mission. He was born in Sluiskil, Netherlands on March 24, 1932. He worked to get his Engineer’s degree in chemical engineering at the Delft University of Technology in...

Jean-Jacques Favier is a former CNES astronuoat that took to the skies on the STS-78 Columbia mission with NASA. He is also a French engineer. Favier was born in Kehl, Germany on April 13, 1949. He attended his grade school in Strasbourg, France. In 1971, Favier attended the Grenoble Institute of Technology where he received an engineering degree. Later in 1977, he earned a PhD from the...