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Vance Brand is one of the 19 pilot astronauts selected by NASA in April 1966, Brand initially was a crew member in the thermal vacuum chamber testing of the prototype Command Module and support crewman on Apollo 8 and 13. Later he was backup command module pilot for Apollo 15 and backup commander for Skylabs 3 and 4. As an astronaut he held management positions relating to spacecraft development, acquisition, flight safety and mission operations. Brand flew on four space missions; Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, STS-5, STS 41-B, and STS-35. He has logged 746 hours in space and has commanded three Shuttle missions. Mr. Brand departed the Astronaut Office in 1992 to become Chief of Plans at the National Aerospace Plane (NASP) Joint Program Office at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio. In September 1994, he moved to California to become Assistant Chief of Flight Operations at the Dryden Flight Research Center, then Acting Chief Engineer, and currently Deputy Director for Aerospace Projects. Click here to read Vance Brand's NASA biography.

Valeri Nikolayevich Kubasov

Kubasov was born on January 7, 1935, in the city of Vyazniki, Vladimir Region. After finishing secondary school in 1952, he entered the Moscow Aviation Institute. During his studies there, he displayed an inclination for theoretical research. On graduating the institute in 1958, he started to work at a designing bureau. He is the author of a number of studies dealing with the calculation of spaceship trajectories, and is the holder of a Master of Science (Engineering) degree. In 1966 he was enlisted with the cosmonauts' unit, and took a complete course of space-flight training. As flight engineer of Soyuz-6 he took part in the group space flight with spaceships Soyuz-7 and Soyuz-8 in October 1969. On board the Soyuz-6 he conducted experimental welding in outer space. Kubasov’s next spaceflight was aboard Soyuz 19 (Soyuz flight Engineer) as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) flying into space with Alexei Leonov (Soyuz Commander). Apollo-Soyuz was the first joint mission between the United States and Soviet Union. Kubasov’s final flight was aboard Soyuz 36 (Commander) to the Salyut-6 Space Station. Kubasov’s total time spent in space is 18 days 16 hours.

Maj. Gen. Aleksei Arkhipovich Leonov (Soviet AF ret.)

Leonov was born May 30, 1934, in Listvyanka, Siberia. He attended the Kremenchug prep school for pilots and the Chuguyev Higher Air Force school in Ukraine, graduating in 1957. He served as a jet pilot in East Germany and was a student at the Zhukovsky Air Force Engineering Academy in October 1959 when selections began for the manned space program. Leonov was selected to train for the world's first walk in space in the fall of 1962. For eighteen months he made dozens of special weightless flights in aircraft. First spacewalk, with a two man crew of Colonel Pavel Belyayev and Lt. Colonel Aleksey Leonov. During Voskhod 2's second orbit, Leonov stepped from the vehicle and performed mankind's first "walk in space." After 10 min of extravehicular activity, he returned safely to the spacecraft through an inflatable airlock. This mission was the original raison d'etre of the Voskhod series, with the original name 'Advance'. It almost ended in disaster when Leonov was unable to reenter the airlock due to stiffness of the inflated spacesuit. He had to bleed air from the suit in order to get into the airlock. After Leonov finally managed to get back into the spacecraft cabin, the primary hatch would not seal completely. The environmental control system compensated by flooding the cabin with oxygen, creating a serious fire hazard in a craft only qualified for sea level nitrogen-oxygen gas mixes (Cosmonaut Bondarenko had burned to death in a ground accident in such circumstances, preceding the Apollo 204 disaster by many years). On re-entry the primary retrorockets failed. A manually controlled retrofire was accomplished one orbit later (perhaps with the backup solid rocket retropack on the nose of spacecraft - which did not exist on Vostok). The service module failed to separate completely, leading to wild gyrations of the joined reentry sphere - service module before connecting wires burned through. Voskhod 2 finally landed near Perm in the Ural mountains on March 19, 1965 9:02 GMT. The crew spent the night in the woods, surrounded by wolves, before being located. Recovery crew had to chop down trees to clear a landing zone for helicopter recovery of the crew, who had to ski to the clearing from the spacecraft. Only some days later could the capsule itself be removed. Leonov’s next spaceflight was aboard Soyuz 19 (Soyuz Commander) as part of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) flying into space Valeri Kubasov (Soyuz Flight Engineer). Apollo-Soyuz was the first joint mission between the United States and Soviet Union and made history on July 17, 1975 when the Soyuz and Apollo spacecraft docked allowing the crews to sample each other’s spacecraft. Following Apollo-Soyuz, Major General Leonov served as commander of the cosmonaut team (March 1976 to January 1982) and as deputy director of the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, where he was in charge of crew training until his retirement in October 1991. He also received a candidate of technical sciences degree in 1981.

Donald K. "Deke" Slayton

Mr. Slayton was named as one of the Mercury astronauts in April 1959. He was originally scheduled to pilot the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission but was relieved of this assignment due to a heart condition discovered in August 1959. Slayton became Coordinator of Astronaut Activities in September 1962 and was responsible for the operation of the astronaut office. In November 1963, he resigned his commission as an Air Force Major to assume the role of Director of Flight Crew Operations. In this capacity, he was responsible for directing the activities of the astronaut office, the aircraft operations office, the flight crew integration division, the crew training and simulation division, and the crew procedures division. Slayton was restored to full flight status and certified eligible for manned space flights in March 1972, following a comprehensive review of his medical status by NASA’s Director of Life Sciences and the Federal Aviation Agency. Mr. Slayton made his first space flight as Apollo docking module pilot of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission, July 15-24, 1975—a joint space flight culminating in the first historical meeting in space between American astronauts and Soviet cosmonauts. Completing the United States flight crew for this 9-day earth-orbital mission were Thomas P. Stafford (Apollo commander) and Vance D. Brand (Apollo command module Pilot). In the Soviet spacecraft were cosmonauts Alexey Leonov (Soyuz commander) and Valeriy Kubasov (Soyuz flight engineer). The crewmen of both nations participated in a rendezvous and subsequent docking, with Apollo the active spacecraft. The event marked the successful testing of a universal docking system and signaled a major advance in efforts to pave the way for the conduct of joint experiments and/or the exchange of mutual assistance in future international space explorations. There were 44 hours of docked joint activities during ASTP, highlighted by four crew transfers and the completion of a number of joint scientific experiments and engineering investigations. All major ASTP objectives were accomplished and included: testing a compatible rendezvous system in orbit; testing of androgynous docking assemblies; verifying techniques for crew transfers; and gaining experience in the conduct of joint international flights. Apollo splashed down in the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii and was quickly recovered by the USS New Orleans. Slayton logged 217 hours and 28 minutes in his first space flight. From December 1975 through November 1977, Slayton served as Manager for Approach and Landing Test Project. He directed the Space Shuttle approach and landing test project through a series of critical orbiter flight tests that allowed in-flight test and checkout of flight controls and orbiter subsystems and permitted extensive evaluations of the orbiter’s subsonic flying qualities and performance characteristics. He next served as Manager for Orbital Flight Test, directing orbital flight mission preparations and conducting mission operations. He was responsible for OFT operations scheduling, mission configuration control, preflight stack configuration control, as well as conducting planning reviews, mission readiness reviews, and postflight mission evaluations. He was also responsible for the 747/orbiter ferry program. Slayton retired from NASA in 1982. He was president of Space Services Inc., of Houston, a company he founded to develop rockets for small commercial payloads. Sadly Donald Slayton died 13 June, 1993 from brain cancer. Click here to read Mr. Slayton's NASA biography.

Lt. General Thomas P. "Tom" Stafford(USAF ret)

General Stafford graduated with honors in 1952 from the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland, and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He received his pilot wings at Connally AFB, Waco, Texas, in September 1953. He completed advanced interceptor training and was assigned to the 54th Flight Interceptor Squadron, Ellsworth AFB, Rapid City, South Dakota. In December 1955 he was assigned to the 496th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Hahn Air Base, Germany, where he performed the duties of pilot, flight leader, and flight test maintenance office, flying F-86Ds. He was an instructor in flight test training and specialized academic subjects-establishing basic textbooks and directing the writing of flight test manuals for use by the staff and students. He is co-author of the Pilot's Handbook for Performance Flight Testing and the Aerodynamics Handbook for Performance Flight Testing. General Stafford was selected among the second group of astronauts in September 1962 by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to participate in Projects Gemini and Apollo. In December 1965, he piloted Gemini VI the first rendezvous in space, and helped develop techniques to prove the basic theory and practicality of space rendezvous. In June 1966 he commanded Gemini IX and performed a demonstration of an early rendezvous that would be used in Apollo;the first optical rendezvous; and a lunar orbit abort rendezvous From August 1966 to October 1968 he headed the mission planning analysis and software development responsibilities for the astronaut group for Project Apollo General Stafford was the lead member of the group, which helped formulate the sequence of missions leading to the first lunar landing mission. He demonstrated and implemented the theory of a pilot manually flying the Saturn booster into orbit and the translunar injection maneuver. General Stafford was commander of Apollo 10 in May 1969, first flight of the lunar module to the moon, performed the first rendezvous around the Moon, and performed the entire lunar landing mission except the actual landing. He also made reconnaissance and tracking on future Apollo landing sites. General Stafford was cited in the Guiness Book of World Records for highest speed ever attained by man which occurred during Apollo 10 reentry when the spacecraft attained 24,791 statute miles per hour. He was assigned as head of the astronaut group in June 1969, responsible for the selection of flight crews for projects Apollo and Skylab. He reviewed and monitored flight crew training status reports, and was responsible for coordination, scheduling, and control of all activities involving NASA astronauts. In June 1971, General Stafford was assigned as Deputy Director of Flight Crew Operations at the NASA Manned Spaceflight Center. He was responsible for assisting the director in planning and implementation of programs for the astronaut group, the Aircraft Operations, Flight Crew Integration, Flight Crew Procedures, and Crew Simulation and Training Divisions. He logged his fourth space flight as Apollo commander of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project (ASTP) mission, July 15-24, 1975-a joint space flight culminating in the historic first meeting in space between American Astronauts and Soviet Cosmonauts. General Stafford was the first member of his Naval Academy Class of 1952 to pin on the first, second and third stars of a General Officer. He has flown six rendezvous in space; logged 507 hours and 43 minutes in space flight and wore the Air Force command Pilot Astronaut Wings. He has flown over 127 different type of aircraft and helicopters and four different types of spacecraft. General Stafford assumed command of the Air Force Flight Test Center November 4, 1975. He was promoted to the grade of Major General August 9, 1975, with date of rank of June 1, 1973. Promoted to grade of Lieutenant General on March 15, 1978 and on May 1, 1978, assumed duties as Deputy Chief of Staff, Research Development and Acquisition, Headquarters USAF, Washington, D.C.; retired in November 1979. Click here to read General Stafford's NASA biography.

The above photograph of the moon (taken during the Apollo 15 mission) is signed by the following moon voyagers: Lt. General Tom Stafford (Apollo 10 CDR); Captain Dick Gordon (Apollo 12 CMP); Captain Ed Mitchell (Apollo 14 LMP); Colonel Dave Scott (Apollo 15 CDR); Colonel Al Worden (Apollo 15 CMP) and Brigadier General Charlie Duke (Apollo 16 LMP).

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