IRISH DIASPORA

THE ASTRONOUTS

IRISH IN U.S.

Neil Armstrong• Neil Alden Armstrong (August 5, 1930 – August 25, 2012) • was an American astronaut • the first person to walk on the Moon. • He was also an aerospace engineer, naval aviator, test pilot, and • university professor. • Before becoming an astronaut, Armstrong was an officer in the • U.S. Navy and served in the Korean War. • After the war, he earned his bachelor's degree at Purdue University and served as a test pilot at the

National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics High-Speed Flight Station, now known as the Dryden Flight Research Center, where he logged over 900 flights. He later completed graduate studies at the University of Southern California.

• A participant in the U.S. Air Force's Man in Space Soonest and X-20 Dyna-Soar human spaceflight programs, Armstrong joined the NASA Astronaut Corps in 1962. He made his first space flight, as command pilot of Gemini 8, in 1966, becoming NASA's first civilian astronaut to fly in space. On this mission, he performed the first docking of two spacecraft, with pilot David Scott.

• Armstrong's second and last spaceflight was as mission commander of the Apollo 11 moon landing, in July 1969. On this mission, Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin descended to the lunar surface and spent two and a half hours exploring, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit in the Command Module. Along with Collins and Aldrin, Armstrong was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Richard Nixon; President Jimmy Carter presented Armstrong the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 1978; he and his former crewmates received the Congressional Gold Medal in 2009.

Eileen Collins• (born November 19, 1956) • is a retired NASA astronaut and • a United States Air Force colonel. • A former military instructor and test pilot, Collins

was the first female pilot and first female commander of a Space Shuttle. She was awarded several medals for her work. Colonel Collins has logged 38 days 8 hours and 10 minutes in outer space. Collins retired on May 1, 2006 to pursue private interests, including service as a board member of USAA.

Michael Collins• (born October 31, 1930) • is an American former astronaut and test pilot.

• His first spaceflight was Gemini 10, • in which he and command pilot John Young performed two rendezvous with

different spacecraft and Collins undertook two EVAs. His second spaceflight was as the command module pilot for Apollo 11. While he orbited the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin made the first manned landing on the lunar surface. He is one of only 24 people to have flown to the Moon.

• Prior to becoming an astronaut, he had attended the United States Military Academy, and from there he joined the United States Air Force and flew F-86s at Chambley-Bussieres Air Base, France. He was accepted to the U.S. Air Force Experimental Flight Test Pilot School at Edwards Air Force Base in 1960. He unsuccessfully applied for the second astronaut group, but was accepted for the third group.

James Benson Irwin

• (March 17, 1930 – August 8, 1991) • was an American astronaut. • He served as Lunar Module pilot for Apollo 15, • the fourth human lunar landing. • He was the eighth person to walk on the Moon and the first, and

youngest, of those astronauts to die.

• Irwin's grandparents emigrated to the USA from Altmore Parish at Pomeroy in County Tyrone, Ireland around 1859.[2] Irwin is a third cousin of Cherith Andrews (Nee McFarland) socialite and Advertising Manager at the Daily Mirror Northern Ireland. Irwin himself was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania of Scottish and Irish descent.[3] Irwin graduated from East High School in Salt Lake City, Utah in 1947. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in naval science from the United States Naval Academy in 1951 and a Master of Science in aeronautical engineering and instrumentation engineering from the University of Michigan in 1957.

Mark E. Kelly• (born February 21, 1964) • is a retired American astronaut and • U.S. Navy Captain.

• A naval aviator, Kelly flew combat missions during the Gulf War. He was selected to become a NASA Space Shuttle pilot in 1996 and flew his first mission in 2001 as pilot of STS-108. He piloted STS-121 in 2006 and commanded STS-124 in 2008 and STS-134 in 2011. STS-134 was his final mission and the final mission of Space Shuttle Endeavour.

Scott J. Kelly• (born February 21, 1964) • is an American astronaut and • a retired U.S. Navy Captain. • A veteran of three previous missions, • Kelly was commander of the International Space Station (ISS) Expedition 26.

Kelly's identical twin brother, Mark Kelly, is also an astronaut. The Kelly brothers are the only siblings to have both traveled in space.[1][3]

• Kelly's first spaceflight was as pilot of Space Shuttle Discovery during STS-103 in December 1999. This was the third servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, and lasted for just under 8 days. His second spaceflight was as mission commander of STS-118, a 12-day Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station in August 2007.

• Kelly became a long-duration crewmember of ISS on October 9, 2010, after arriving on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft. He arrived at the station during Expedition 25, serving as a flight engineer. He took over command of the station on November 25, 2010, at the start of Expedition 26 which began officially when the spacecraft Soyuz TMA-19 undocked, carrying the previous commander of the station, Douglas H. Wheelock.