The GAFFers
The Astronauts of Group 12
Year selected	1987
Number selected	15
←  1985 1990 →

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

Group members

Pilots

• 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]

Mission specialists

• 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]}

Further information

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]

See also

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

References

External links

• Astronaut Biographies: Home Page