On June 4, 1998, NASA announced the selection of 25 new astronauts, 21 men and four women, comprising the 17th group of astronauts chosen by the space agency. The group included eight pilots and 17 mission specialists. As a group, they distinguished themselves during the latter stages of assembly of the International Space Station. Between 2006 and 2014, they completed 44 spaceflights, 10 of them long-duration missions aboard the space station. Launches and landings took place on either the space shuttle or Soyuz spacecraft. Nine members of the group completed 54 spacewalks on assembly and maintenance tasks. When they reported for duty in August 1998, seven international astronauts from three space agencies representing five countries joined them for their training program. Three members of the group remain active.
Left: Group photo of the astronaut Class of 1998, including the international partner astronauts. Row 1: Bjarni V. Tryggvason (Canada), left, Douglas H. Wheelock, Gregory H. Johnson, Patricia C. Hilliard Robertson, Marcos C. Pontes (Brazil), Garrett E. Reisman, Barbara R. Morgan, Léopold P. Eyharts (France), Tracy E. Caldwell Dyson, Sunita L. Williams. Row 2: Timothy J. Creamer, left, Roberto Vittori (Italy), Lee J. Archambault, William A. Oefelein, Gregory C. Johnson, Neil W. Woodward, Michael J. Foreman, Christopher J. Ferguson, George D. Zamka, Kenneth T. Ham. Row 3: Paolo A. Nespoli (Italy), Stanley G. Love, Hans W. Schlegel (Germany), John D. “Danny” Olivas, Leland D. Melvin, Michael E. Fossum, Alan G. Poindexter, Gregory E. Chamitoff, Nicholas J.M. Patrick, Steven R. Swanson, Clayton C. Anderson. Not pictured: Robert B. Thirsk (Canada). Right: Patch of the Class of 1998.
The eight pilots of the Class of 1998 included Lee J. Archambault, Christopher J. Ferguson, Kenneth T. Ham, Gregory C. Johnson, Gregory H. Johnson, William A. Oefelein, Alan G. Poindexter, and George D. Zamka. The 17 NASA mission specialists included Clayton C. Anderson, Tracy E. Caldwell Dyson, Timothy J. Creamer, Michael J. Foreman, Michael E. Fossum, Stanley G. Love, Leland D. Melvin, Barbara R. Morgan, John D. “Danny” Olivas, Nicholas J.M. Patrick, Garrett E. Reisman, Patricia C. Hilliard Robertson, Steven R. Swanson, Douglas H. Wheelock, Sunita L. Williams, and Neil W. Woodward. To maintain the tradition of previous astronaut classes, the Class of 1998 named themselves The Penguins. Morgan had served as the backup for S. Christa McAuliffe as the Teacher in Space on the ill-fated last flight of Challenger. Fossum completed the first spaceflight from the Class of 1998 when he flew on STS-121 in July 2006. During that mission, he became the first from the class to carry out a spacewalk. Williams completed the first long-duration flight on the space station between December 2006 and June 2007. Creamer made the first flight from his class aboard a Soyuz spacecraft to reach the space station.
Table of flights completed by the Class of 1998 NASA astronauts.
When the Class of 1998 astronauts reported for duty at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston in August 1998, a group of seven international astronauts representing three different space agencies and five nations joined them for training as mission specialists. Director of Flight Crew Operations David C. Leestma said, “The Class of 1998 continues our international cooperation in space as we begin assembly of the International Space Station. We welcome our international astronauts and the entire class.” Léopold P. Eyharts from France, Paulo A. Nespoli and Roberto Vittori from Italy, and Hans W. Schlegel from Germany represented the European Space Agency, Robert B. Thirsk and Bjarni V. Tryggvason represented the Canadian Space Agency, and Marco C. Pontes represented the Brazilian Space Agency. Eyharts, Schlegel, Thirsk, and Tryggvason all had previous spaceflight experience on Mir and on the space shuttle.
Table of flights completed by the international members of the Class of 1998.
Two members of the Class of 1998 did not make it to space. Patricia C. Hilliard Robertson tragically died in a plane crash on May 24, 2001, in Houston. Neil W. Woodward retired from NASA in July 2008 before receiving a spaceflight assignment. Alan G. Poindexter died in a tragic jet ski accident in Pensacola, Florida, on July 1, 2012.
For more detailed astronaut biographies, please visit https://www.nasa.gov/astronauts/biographies