Stargazing Guy

Were you following a weekly list of forthcoming astronaut* birthdays?

Did you share a birthday?!

If not, perhaps it will be you who adds your name to the list?! Or maybe, one of the 100+ additional astronauts has beaten you?! These astronauts have flown since this original list was pulled together.

We have started listing all the newer astronauts, but not in birthday order. We are now using date order. It starts with 22 July 2015 – see Do you share a birthday with an astronaut? (no.54) – and comes up to date with the most recent astronauts. This is based on the details published by supercluster.com.

If you do share a birthday, what does it mean to you?

Do you feel a connection, pride? They take to the skies (on controlled explosions) to improve the world, to explore (to travel to strange new worlds).

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Three of the people named here are employees of Virgin Galactic (VG), and includes the boss – Sir Richard Branson!

VG is a private spaceflight company which is developing sub-orbital space tourism flights.

These astronauts crossed the NASA Space Line (50 miles/80.5 km), for a few minutes. This is the minimum altitude at which NASA considers a person to have flown in outer space.

30 April 1976 Victor J Glover (NASA) US. Glover has been assigned as Pilot of NASA’s Artemis II mission; one of four. Artemis II is currently (as at 13 October 2024) due to fly around the Moon as part of the return to the Moon mission, no earlier than September 2025 – although this date may well slip.

30 January 1978 Pyotr Dubrov (RKA) Russia.

1 October 1975 Tang Hongbo (CNSA) China.

DOB – TBC Colin Bennett (VG) US.

22 January 1987 Sirisha Bandla (VG) US.

18 July 1950 Sir Richard Branson (VG) UK. On 11 July 2021, Branson travelled as a passenger onboard Virgin Galactic Unity 22 at the edge of space, a suborbital test flight for his spaceflight company Virgin Galactic. The mission lasted approximately one hour, reaching a peak altitude of 53.5 miles (86.1 km). At 70, Branson became the third oldest person to fly to space, as at that date.

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Thanks to www.supercluster.com for the bios and links.

Also, thanks to www.pillownaut.com for the first list of birthdays, and the many, many resources on the internet, especially Wikipedia and NASA.      

* = includes cosmonaut, taikonaut, parastronaut, spaceflight participant, space tourist, etc

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PS: I love coffee. BuyMeACoffee. Leave a message with a date and time. We can share it remotely, at the same time, and think about the Cosmos.

In the meantime, take care of yourself and if you can, someone else, too, because as Adam Smith said, “we naturally desire not only to be loved but to be lovely”.

Remember, hope lives here.

Contact Stargazing Guy for any copyright-related requests or queries @ stargazer1@stargazingguy.co.uk