U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame

Quick Thinking Demonstrated Value of the Human Element

By Bob Granath | July 1, 2024

In late 1966, the final Gemini mission was launched into the skies over Cape Kennedy Air Force Station. At Mission Control in Houston, Dr. Chris Kraft, NASA’s director of Flight Operations, turned to Dr. Robert Gilruth, director of the agency’s Manned Spacecraft Center, and said, “Thank God we never had to use those ejection seats.” But, if not for a test pilot’s quick thinking, two astronauts would have during an attempt to launch a Gemini mission a year earlier.

Scott Carpenter Pioneered Exploration in Space and the Seas

By Bob Granath | May 27, 2022

As the second American to orbit the Earth and one of the Original 7 Mercury astronauts, Scott Carpenter was an icon of NASA’s early efforts to explore the new frontier of space. The goal of his Mercury Atlas-7 flight was to help confirm humans could not only survive in the weightless environment of space, but also do useful work there. The lessons learned included a reminder that spaceflight was far more dangerous than a daily commute to work.

Heroes and Legends Attraction Honors Pioneers of Spaceflight

By Bob Granath | March 2, 2021

“Liftoff of Discovery with a crew of six astronaut heroes and one American legend,” said launch commentator Lisa Malone of NASA Public Affairs as the Space Shuttle mission STS-95 flew into orbit on Oct. 29, 1998. While it was a flight in the late 1990s, it was reminiscent of NASA’s storied past. An international crew lifted off with John Glenn, a member of the Mercury program’s Original Seven astronauts.

The Wrong Stuff

By Bob Granath | October 23, 2020

In 1983, The Right Stuff movie premiered claiming to tell the story of test pilots and those who became America’s first astronauts. The film received acclaim from the majority of the critics who wrote reviews. But, as an accurate chronicle of efforts to pave the road to space, it failed. Astronaut Wally Schirra summed it up best: “The movie was fun. It was well-produced and the acting is great. But as history, it‘s merely ‘Animal House’ in space.’”

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