U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® – Astronaut Bios
2010 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Inductees
Hall of Fame astronauts will gather at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex on June 5, 2010, to honor four of their own. With the addition of the Class of 2010, Bluford, the first African American to fly in space; Bowersox, pilot of the first maintenance mission to restore the crippled Hubble Space Telescope; Culbertson, commander of the first space shuttle night landing at Kennedy Space Center; and Thornton, a mission specialist during the first three-person spacewalk, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame will have honored 77 of America's space heroes.
Astronaut Guion Bluford, Jr.
A four-time space shuttle astronaut, Bluford was the first African American to fly in space. As a mission specialist and flight engineer aboard STS-8, the first night launch and landing of the space shuttle, he assisted in developing techniques for nighttime operations.
Astronaut Kenneth Bowersox
A five-time space shuttle astronaut, Bowersox piloted the precedent-setting mission to the crippled Hubble Space Telescope (HST) in December 1993, STS-61, capturing and restoring it to full capability through a record five spacewalks.
Astronaut Frank Culbertson, Jr.A three-time space shuttle astronaut, Culbertson commanded STS-51 which successfully deployed both the Orbiting Retrievable Far and Extreme Ultraviolet Spectrometers/Shuttle Pallet Satellite, the first in a series of Astronomical SPAS missions.
Astronaut Kathryn Thornton
A four-time space shuttle astronaut, Thorton served as mission specialist aboard the first Hubble Space Telescope (HST) repair mission, STS-61, alongside fellow inductee Ken Bowersox and partnered with astronaut Tom Akers on two spacewalks to replace the solar arrays, install corrective optics (COSTAR) and add additional computer memory.
Learn More About the 2010 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction.
View the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Ticket Package Information.
View the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame 2010 Induction Schedule of Events.