• Education
    • Higher Education
    • Scholarships & Grants
    • Online Learning
    • School Reforms
    • Research & Innovation
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
    • Fashion & Beauty
    • Home & Living
    • Relationships & Family
  • Technology & Startups
    • Software & Apps
    • Startup Success Stories
    • Startups & Innovations
    • Tech Regulations
    • Venture Capital
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cybersecurity
    • Emerging Technologies
    • Gadgets & Devices
    • Industry Analysis
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
Today Headline
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • World News
    • Us & Canada
    • Europe
    • Asia
    • Africa
    • Middle East
  • Politics
    • Elections
    • Political Parties
    • Government Policies
    • International Relations
    • Legislative News
  • Business & Finance
    • Market Trends
    • Stock Market
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Corporate News
    • Economic Policies
  • Science & Environment
    • Space Exploration
    • Climate Change
    • Wildlife & Conservation
    • Environmental Policies
    • Medical Research
  • Health
    • Public Health
    • Mental Health
    • Medical Breakthroughs
    • Fitness & Nutrition
    • Pandemic Updates
  • Sports
    • Football
    • Basketball
    • Tennis
    • Olympics
    • Motorsport
  • Entertainment
    • Movies
    • Music
    • TV & Streaming
    • Celebrity News
    • Awards & Festivals
  • Crime & Justice
    • Court Cases
    • Cybercrime
    • Policing
    • Criminal Investigations
    • Legal Reforms
No Result
View All Result
Today Headline
No Result
View All Result
Home Science & Environment Space Exploration

Astronaut Hall of Fame to honor Bernard Harris and Peggy Whitson in May

January 29, 2025
in Space Exploration
Reading Time: 8 mins read
A A
0
A woman in a black and blue flight suit floats through the hatch of a space station
3
SHARES
7
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter


The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame will honor its 2025 class of inductees, record-setting space travelers Peggy Whitson and Bernard Harris, at a public ceremony in Florida this spring. There is a possibility, though, that one of the honorees will not be able to be able to attend the festivities. That is because, at the time, Whitson may be back in space.

Although the Hall of Fame’s rules require that all inductees be retired from NASA’s astronaut corps, the criteria says nothing about flying commercially. Whitson left the agency’s ranks in 2018 and then joined Axiom Space, a Houston-based space services company, for which she has already commanded one private mission to the International Space Station (ISS) and is currently set to fly another this spring.

If the May 31 ceremony and Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4) overlap — the launch is currently targeted for no earlier than late April, but it could slip — then Whitson will be the first person to enter the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame while in orbit, after 109 enshrinements on the ground.

After setting multiple records as a NASA astronaut, Peggy Whitson returned to space with Axiom Space on the Ax-2 mission. (Image credit: NASA)

That would be the latest record for Whitson, who has also spent more time in space — 675 days on four missions — than any other American or woman. At 64, she is the oldest woman to orbit Earth and has performed the most spacewalks, 10, by any female astronaut.

Related: Peggy Whitson: Record-holding astronaut

Whitson’s fellow 2025 Hall of Fame classmate also holds a spacewalk record. Bernard Harris became the first Black astronaut to perform an EVA (extravehicular activity) during the second of his two space shuttle missions in 1995.

“Harris and Whitson continue to serve as exemplary role models in their post-NASA careers. What a tremendous honor to induct them into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame,” Curt Brown, who as a space shuttle commander was chosen for induction in 2013 and now chairs the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation (ASF), the organization that stewards the selection process, said in a statement.

Harris became a NASA astronaut in 1990, after he completed a fellowship at Ames Research Center in California and served as a research scientist and flight surgeon at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

His clinical investigations into how astronauts adapt to space led to the creation of in-flight health countermeasures, including exercise equipment used today on the ISS.

a Black man wearing a rugby shirt and blue pants works on an experiment aboard a space shuttle

Bernard Harris, STS-63 payload commander, monitors experiments on board space shuttle Discovery’s middeck in 1995. (Image credit: NASA)

As the crew medical officer on STS-55, his first mission into space in 1993, Harris conducted the first physical examination in space, the first telemedicine conference from space and administered the first IV (intravenous injection) on humans in space. While on board the space shuttle Columbia, Harris helped conduct nearly 90 biological and Earth science studies during the 10-day flight.

Harris’ second launch was on Discovery with the first shuttle crew to rendezvous with Russia’s space station Mir. On Feb. 9, 1995, together with his fellow STS-63 crewmate Michael Foale, Harris exited the shuttle for a 4-hour, 39-minute EVA. During the spacewalk, the first by an African-African astronaut, Harris tested new thermal protection for spacesuits, used a new digital checklist, handled a satellite and evaluated tools for later use outside of the ISS.

In total, Harris logged more than 18 days in space. He left NASA in 1996 but continued to contribute to the agency by furthering his research and serving on numerous health, safety and advisory panels. He is currently the president and CEO of Vesalius Ventures, which invests in healthcare technologies, and the founder and president of the Harris Foundation, which has partnered with NASA to provide science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programs throughout the nation for more than 25 years.

Related: Interview with Bernard Harris, the 1st African-American spacewalker

A black man in a white spacesuit works in the payload bay of the space shuttle

Bernard Harris as seen during the STS-63 mission as he becomes the first African American to conduct a spacewalk in 1995. (Image credit: NASA)

Whitson, like Harris, began working at the Johnson Space Center as a research scientist before being named an astronaut candidate with NASA’s 16th class in 1996. She was serving as the project scientist for the Shuttle-Mir program when Harris made his history-making EVA.

Whitson’s three NASA spaceflights were all stays on the International Space Station lasting six months or longer. As a flight engineer on the Expedition 5 crew in 2002, she launched and returned to Earth on the U.S. space shuttle, was named the station’s first science officer and was one of only 16 NASA astronauts to perform a spacewalk wearing a Russian Orlan spacesuit.

From October 2007 to April 2008, Whitson served as the first female commander of the ISS, leading Expedition 16. Arriving and departing by Russia’s Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft, Whitson oversaw the continued assembly of the orbiting laboratory, including conducting five spacewalks — two of which were unplanned, in response to a failing rotary joint for the station’s power-providing solar arrays.

Back on Earth, Whitson was appointed chief of NASA’s Astronaut Office in 2009. She was both the first woman and the first non-military officer to hold the position.

a woman in a white spacesuit walks in space outside a space station

Peggy Whitson is seen during her ninth career spacewalk, the 200th EVA in support of the International Space Station. (Image credit: NASA)

Whitson returned to the ISS on Soyuz MS-03 in 2016 and spent almost 200 days aboard the complex as part of its 50th, 51st and 52nd expedition crews. It was during this flight that she broke the record for the most spacewalks by a woman and surpassed the most total time in space by an American.

As Axiom Space’s director of human spaceflight, Whitson became the first woman to lead a commercial spaceflight, Axiom Mission 2 (Ax-2), and only the second NASA astronaut to return to the ISS after leaving the U.S. space agency. She is now assigned to Ax-4, which will mark a return to human spaceflight for India, Poland and Hungary by her three crewmates.

NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida will host the Astronaut Hall of Fame ceremony under its display of the retired space shuttle Atlantis. The public is invited to see Harris and Whitson be added to the hall’s honorees.

“The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame welcomes two exceptional and trailblazing veterans of the space program who contributed significantly to NASA’s mission and program,” said Brown.

A formal gala, organized by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, will celebrate the two new inductees that evening at Kennedy’s Apollo/Saturn V Center.

The ASF administered the committee of Astronaut Hall of Fame members, former NASA officials, historians and journalists who selected the 2025 class. To be eligible, astronauts must have made their first flight at least 15 years before the induction, must be U.S. citizens and either a NASA-trained shuttle commander, pilot, mission specialist or a space station commander or flight engineer who has orbited Earth at least once.

Founded in 1990, the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame is part of the Heroes & Legends attraction at the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Harris and Whitson’s likenesses, etched in glass and mounted with their embroidered mission patches, will go on display after they are inducted.

Follow collectSPACE.com on Facebook and on X at @collectSPACE. Copyright 2025 collectSPACE.com. All rights reserved.

Previous Post

U.N. Confirms Notification Of America’s Exit From Paris Climate Deal

Next Post

Trump Asks SpaceX to Return NASA’s ‘Stranded’ Astronauts to Earth ASAP todayheadline

Related Posts

Luna Optics LN-G3-M50

Best night vision monoculars in 2025

May 25, 2025
5
China signs deal with Russia to build a power plant on the moon — potentially leaving the US in the dust

China signs deal with Russia to build a power plant on the moon — potentially leaving the US in the dust

May 25, 2025
5
Next Post
NASA astronauts Suni Williams and Butch Wilmore on the International Space Station

Trump Asks SpaceX to Return NASA’s ‘Stranded’ Astronauts to Earth ASAP todayheadline

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

Family calls for change after B.C. nurse dies by suicide after attacks on the job

April 2, 2025
Pioneering 3D printing project shares successes

Product reduces TPH levels to non-hazardous status

November 27, 2024

Hospital Mergers Fail to Deliver Better Care or Lower Costs, Study Finds todayheadline

December 31, 2024

Police ID man who died after Corso Italia fight

December 23, 2024
Harris tells supporters 'never give up' and urges peaceful transfer of power

Harris tells supporters ‘never give up’ and urges peaceful transfer of power

0
Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend's Mother

Des Moines Man Accused Of Shooting Ex-Girlfriend’s Mother

0

Trump ‘looks forward’ to White House meeting with Biden

0
Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

Catholic voters were critical to Donald Trump’s blowout victory: ‘Harris snubbed us’

0
Cold sore

New Link Connects Herpes to Alzheimer’s. Here’s What We Know. : ScienceAlert todayheadline

May 26, 2025
Image: The 5th Anniversary Of George Floyd's Death Is Memorialized In Minneapolis

Five years later, the spot where George Floyd died is filled with memories but calm

May 26, 2025

Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, 79, dies

May 26, 2025
U.S.-German citizen arrested for attempted firebombing of U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv

U.S.-German citizen arrested for attempted firebombing of U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv

May 26, 2025

Recent News

Cold sore

New Link Connects Herpes to Alzheimer’s. Here’s What We Know. : ScienceAlert todayheadline

May 26, 2025
3
Image: The 5th Anniversary Of George Floyd's Death Is Memorialized In Minneapolis

Five years later, the spot where George Floyd died is filled with memories but calm

May 26, 2025
2

Duck Dynasty star Phil Robertson, 79, dies

May 26, 2025
3
U.S.-German citizen arrested for attempted firebombing of U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv

U.S.-German citizen arrested for attempted firebombing of U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv

May 26, 2025
4

TodayHeadline is a dynamic news website dedicated to delivering up-to-date and comprehensive news coverage from around the globe.

Follow Us

Browse by Category

  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Basketball
  • Business & Finance
  • Climate Change
  • Crime & Justice
  • Cybersecurity
  • Economic Policies
  • Elections
  • Entertainment
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Environmental Policies
  • Europe
  • Football
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Health
  • Medical Research
  • Mental Health
  • Middle East
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Politics
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Science & Environment
  • Software & Apps
  • Space Exploration
  • Sports
  • Stock Market
  • Technology & Startups
  • Tennis
  • Travel
  • Uncategorized
  • Us & Canada
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • World News

Recent News

Azul's SWOT analysis: Brazilian airline stock faces turbulence amid restructuring todayheadline

May 26, 2025
Cold sore

New Link Connects Herpes to Alzheimer’s. Here’s What We Know. : ScienceAlert todayheadline

May 26, 2025
  • Education
  • Lifestyle
  • Technology & Startups
  • About us
  • Contact
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy

© 2024 Todayheadline.co

Welcome Back!

OR

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Business & Finance
  • Corporate News
  • Economic Policies
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Market Trends
  • Crime & Justice
  • Court Cases
  • Criminal Investigations
  • Cybercrime
  • Legal Reforms
  • Policing
  • Education
  • Higher Education
  • Online Learning
  • Entertainment
  • Awards & Festivals
  • Celebrity News
  • Movies
  • Music
  • Health
  • Fitness & Nutrition
  • Medical Breakthroughs
  • Mental Health
  • Pandemic Updates
  • Lifestyle
  • Fashion & Beauty
  • Food & Drink
  • Home & Living
  • Politics
  • Elections
  • Government Policies
  • International Relations
  • Legislative News
  • Political Parties
  • Africa
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Middle East
  • Artificial Intelligence
  • Cybersecurity
  • Emerging Technologies
  • Gadgets & Devices
  • Industry Analysis
  • Basketball
  • Football
  • Motorsport
  • Olympics
  • Climate Change
  • Environmental Policies
  • Medical Research
  • Science & Environment
  • Space Exploration
  • Wildlife & Conservation
  • Sports
  • Tennis
  • Technology & Startups
  • Software & Apps
  • Startup Success Stories
  • Startups & Innovations
  • Tech Regulations
  • Venture Capital
  • Uncategorized
  • World News
  • Us & Canada
  • Public Health
  • Relationships & Family
  • Travel
  • Research & Innovation
  • Scholarships & Grants
  • School Reforms
  • Stock Market
  • TV & Streaming
  • Advertise with Us
  • Privacy & Policy
  • About us
  • Contact

© 2024 Todayheadline.co