NASA Astronaut Group 12

The GAFFers
The Astronauts of Group 12
Year selected	1987
Number selected	15
← 11 (1985) 13 (1990) →

NASA Astronaut Group 12 (the GAFFers) was a group of 15 astronauts announced by NASA on June 5, 1987.^[1]

• Andrew M. Allen (born 1955), U.S. Marine Corps (3 flights)^[2]

STS-46 Atlantis — July 1992 — Pilot — Deployment of EURECA and Tethered Satellite System (TSS)^[3]

STS-62 Columbia — March 1994 — Pilot — Microgravity experiments^[4]

STS-75 Columbia — February 1996 — Commander — Tethered Satellite System reflight, lost due to broken tether^[5]

• Kenneth D. Bowersox (born 1956), U.S. Navy (5 flights)^[6]

STS-50 Columbia — June 1992 — Pilot — Spacelab mission^[7]

STS-61 Endeavour — December 1993 — Pilot — First Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission^[8]

STS-73 Columbia — October 1995 — Commander — Spacelab mission^[9]

STS-82 Discovery — February 1997 — Commander — Second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission^[10]

STS-113 Endeavour — November 2002 — Mission Specialist 3 (launched only) — ISS assembly flight 11A: P1 truss, crew rotation^[11]

ISS Expedition 6 — November 2002–May 2003 — ISS Commander^[11]

Soyuz TMA-1 — May 2003 — Flight Engineer (landed only) — ISS crew rotation^[12]

• Curtis L. Brown, Jr. (born 1956), U.S. Air Force (6 flights)^[13]

STS-47 Endeavour — September 1992 — Pilot — Spacelab-J, Japan-funded Spacelab mission^[14]

STS-66 Atlantis — November 1994 — Pilot — ATLAS-3 science platform experiments^[15]

STS-77 Endeavour — May 1996 — Pilot — SPACEHAB, SPARTAN^[16]

STS-85 Discovery — August 1997 — Commander — Deployed and retrieved CRISTA-SPAS^[17]

STS-95 Discovery — October 1998 — Commander — SPACEHAB^[18]

STS-103 Discovery — December 1999 — Commander — Third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission^[19]

• Kevin P. Chilton (born 1954), U.S. Air Force (3 flights)^[20]

STS-49 Endeavour — May 1992 — Pilot — Intelsat VI hand-retrieval and repair^[21]

STS-59 Endeavour — April 1994 — Pilot — Experiments aboard Shuttle Radar Laboratory-1^[22]

STS-76 Atlantis — March 1996 — Commander — Third Shuttle-Mir docking^[23]

• Donald R. McMonagle (born 1952), U.S. Air Force (3 flights)^[24]

STS-39 Discovery — April 1991 — Mission Specialist 4 — First unclassified DoD mission, military science experiments^[25]

STS-54 Endeavour — January 1993 — Pilot – Tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS-F) deployment^[26]

STS-66 Atlantis — November 1994 — Commander — ATLAS-3 science platform experiments^[15]

• William F. Readdy (born 1952), U.S. Navy (3 flights)^[27]

STS-42 Discovery — January 1992 — Mission Specialist 3 — Spacelab mission^[28]

STS-51 Discovery — September 1993 — Pilot — ACTS satellite deployment, SPAS-ORFEUS deployment and retrieval^[29]

STS-79 Atlantis — September 1996 — Commander — Fourth Shuttle-Mir docking^[30]

• Kenneth S. Reightler, Jr. (born 1951), U.S. Navy (2 flights)^[31]

STS-48 Discovery — September 1991 — Pilot — Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite deployment^[32]

STS-60 Discovery — February 1994 — Pilot — SPACEHAB, Wake Shield Facility^[33]

• Thomas D. Akers (born 1951), U.S. Air Force (4 flights)^[34]

STS-41 Discovery — October 1990 — Mission Specialist 3 — Ulysses/Inertial Upper Stage solar probe deployment^[35]

STS-49 Endeavour — May 1992 — Mission Specialist 4 — Intelsat VI hand-retrieval and repair^[21]

STS-61 Endeavour — December 1993 — Mission Specialist 5 — First Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission^[8]

STS-79 Atlantis — September 1996 — Mission Specialist 1 — Fourth Shuttle-Mir docking^[30]

• N. Jan Davis (born 1953), Engineer (3 flights)^[36]

STS-47 Endeavour — September 1992 — Mission Specialist 2 — Spacelab-J, Japan-funded Spacelab mission^[14]

STS-60 Discovery — February 1994 — Mission Specialist 1 — SPACEHAB, Wake Shield Facility^[33]

STS-85 Discovery — August 1997 — Payload Commander — Deployed and retrieved CRISTA-SPAS^[17]

• C. Michael Foale (born 1957), Astrophysicist (6 flights)^[37]

STS-45 Atlantis — March 1992 — Mission Specialist 3 — ATLAS-1 science platform^[38]

STS-56 Discovery — April 1993 — Mission Specialist 1 — ATLAS-2 science platform^[39]

STS-63 Discovery — February 1995 — Mission Specialist 1 — First Shuttle-Mir rendezvous, SPACEHAB^[40]

STS-84 Atlantis — May 1997 — Mission Specialist 5 (launched only) — Sixth Shuttle-Mir docking^[41]

Mir EO-23/Mir EO-24 — May 1997–October 1997 — Flight Engineer 2^[41]

STS-86 Atlantis — October 1997 — Mission Specialist 5 (landed only) — Seventh Shuttle-Mir docking^[42]

STS-103 Discovery — December 1999 — Mission Specialist 3 — Third Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission^[19]

Soyuz TMA-3 — October 2003–April 2004 — Flight Engineer — ISS crew rotation^[43]

ISS Expedition 8 — October 2003–April 2004 — ISS Commander^[43]

• Gregory J. Harbaugh (born 1956), Engineer (4 flights)^[44]

STS-39 Discovery — April 1991 — Mission Specialist 2 — First unclassified DoD mission, military science experiments^[25]

STS-54 Endeavour — January 1993 — Mission Specialist 2 – Tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS-F) deployment^[26]

STS-71 Atlantis — June 1995 — Mission Specialist 1 — First Shuttle-Mir docking^[45]

STS-82 Discovery — February 1997 — Mission Specialist 3 — Second Hubble Space Telescope servicing mission^[10]

• Mae C. Jemison (born 1956), Physician (1 flight)^[46]

STS-47 Endeavour — September 1992 — Mission Specialist 4 — Spacelab-J, Japan-funded Spacelab mission^[14]

• Bruce E. Melnick (born 1949), U.S. Coast Guard (2 flights)^[47]

STS-41 Discovery — October 1990 — Mission Specialist 1 — Ulysses/Inertial Upper Stage solar probe deployment^[35]

STS-49 Endeavour — May 1992 — Mission Specialist 2 — Intelsat VI hand-retrieval and repair^[21]

• Mario Runco, Jr. (born 1952), U.S. Navy (3 flights)^[48]

STS-44 Atlantis — November 1991 — Mission Specialist 2 — DSP satellite deployment^[49]

STS-54 Endeavour — January 1993 — Mission Specialist 1 – Tracking and data relay satellite (TDRS-F) deployment^[26]

STS-77 Endeavour — May 1996 — Mission Specialist 3 — SPACEHAB, SPARTAN^[16]

• James S. Voss (born 1949), U.S. Army (5 flights)^[50]

STS-44 Atlantis — November 1991 — Mission Specialist 3 — DSP satellite deployment^[49]

STS-53 Discovery — December 1992 — Mission Specialist 2 — Partially classified 10th and final DoD mission, likely deployment of SDS2 satellite^[51]

STS-69 Endeavour — September 1995 — Mission Specialist 1 — Wake Shield Facility, SPARTAN^[52]

STS-101 Atlantis — May 2000 — Mission Specialist 3 — ISS supply^[53]

STS-102 Discovery — March 2001 — Mission Specialist 4 (launched only) — ISS supply and crew rotation^[54]

ISS Expedition 2 — March 2001–August 2001 — Flight Engineer 2^[55]

STS-105 Discovery — August 2001 — Mission Specialist 4 (landed only) — ISS supply and crew rotation^[56][57]

The group's informal nickname is an acronym for "George Abbey Final Fifteen".^[58] Of this group, Mae Jemison would become the first female African-American in space,^[59] Bruce Melnick the first Coast Guard aviator in space,^[60] while Michael Foale would fly aboard the Mir space station.^[37] At the time of the Columbia accident in 2003, William Readdy was Associate Administrator for Space Flight^[27] and Kenneth Bowersox was commanding the Expedition 6 crew on the ISS.^[6] Chilton, after leaving NASA, became the first NASA astronaut to become a General in the U.S. Air Force^[61] (Lt. Gen. Thomas Stafford, USAF,^[62] and VADM Richard Truly, USN^[63] were three-star officers) and was commander of U.S. Strategic Command from October 2007 until January 2011.^[61]

• List of astronauts by name
• List of astronauts by selection
• List of space travelers by name
• List of space travelers by nationality

• Astronaut Biographies: Home Page