All Three Part Of First NASA Class To Fly Shuttles

Michael Coats, Steven Hawley and Jeffrey Hoffman each have a unique and storied history with NASA, but they all will soon share the same honor, enshrinement in the US Astronaut Hall Of Fame.

The three men were all members of NASA's Astronaut class of 1978, nicknamed "Thirty-Five New Guys." It was the first class to fly shuttles missions and the first to include women.

Coats, now 61, flew three shuttle missions and worked at Lockheed Martin Space Systems before taking the reins at NASA's Johnson Space Center in November 2005. He piloted the shuttle Discovery on its maiden voyage in August 1984. In fact, all of Coats' shuttle missions were aboard Discovery.

He served as mission commander for his two other flights in 1989 and 1991.

Hawley, 55, flew with Coats on Discovery's maiden voyage, as well as four other shuttle missions. As an astronomer, Hawley was instrumental in deploying several space observation platforms and now serves as director of NASA's Research and Exploration Science Directorate under Coats at JSC.

Hoffman is 62 and veteran of five shuttle missions. In December of 1993, he flew aboard the mission to repair the Hubble Space Telescope's flawed primary mirror. The mission included several critical space walks with astronauts using a variety of specialized tools. It was widely viewed as a test of NASA's ability to work effectively in space and build the International Space Station.

Hoffman and three crewmates successfully completed the repairs in five space walks over five days.

Hoffman is now a professor of aerospace engineering teaching courses in space operations and spacecraft design and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

ANN salutes Michael Coats, Steven Hawley and Jeffrey Hoffman for their contributions in furthering human understanding of spaceflight, aerospace, and the physical sciences.

FMI: www.nasa.gov