Skip to main content

Subscribe to Smithsonian magazine and get a FREE tote.

Michael Cassutt

Michael Cassutt has co-authored DEKE!, the autobiography of astronaut Deke Slayton, as well as several novels and television scripts.

Stories from this author

During a spacewalk on mission STS-131, astronaut and author Clay Anderson, hanging from the space station, waved to his shuttle Discovery crewmates.

Confessions of a Station Astronaut

Clayton Anderson talks about his new book, The Ordinary Spaceman.

NASA’s 2013 astronaut candidates, nicknamed the “Eight Balls,” pose in front of a mockup of the Orion capsule at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, last August. From left: Tyler Hague, Andrew Morgan, Jessica Meir, Christina Hammock, Nicole Mann, Josh Cassada, Anne McClain, and Victor Glover.

Astronauts Waiting for a Ride

Now that the space shuttle’s gone, what do astronauts do?

In a joking nod to George Abbey’s power over manned spaceflight, astronauts (like STS-5’s Bob Overmyer) sometimes carried his photo into orbit.

Mr. Inside

George Abbey had more influence on human spaceflight than almost anyone in history, but few outside the field know his name.

All five NASA astronauts on the classified STS-28 mission had military backgrounds. But only two of the defense department’s corps of 27 shuttle payload specialists made it to orbit.

The Secret Space Shuttles

The Pentagon also used NASA’s space truck, but was a lot less willing to discuss what went on up there.

Max Q performs at the STS–114 mission success celebration at Space Center Houston in 2005.

Max Q Live

In space no one can hear you sing.

One of these shuttle astronauts could get the call for a moon mission. Top to bottom, left to right: Terry Virts, mission specialists Robert Behnken, Karen Nyberg, pilots Jim “Vegas” Kelly, Mark Kelly, Pam Melroy, Randy Bresnik, and mission specialist Megan McArthur.

Fly Us to the Moon

The next lunar explorers will soon report to Houston. Are some already there?