The United States Astronaut Hall of Fame added four more space legends to their ranks as former astronauts Kent Rominger, M. Rhea Seddon and Steve Lindsey, and former agency associate administrator John Grunsfeld were inducted to the prestigious group on Saturday.
The historic event was presided over by Charles Bolden, the administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), and Bob Cabana, the director of the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Bolden was inducted to the hall in 2006, while Cabana was inducted in 2008.
"To John Grunsfeld, Steve Lindsey, Kent Rominger, Rhea Seddon - I offer my deepest congratulations," Bolden said during the ceremony.
"You have my deepest respect for all you have achieved in space, for the example you set for others, and the inspiration you have given future generations to take us on a journey to Mars."
John Grunsfeld began his career in NASA when he was selected to be an astronaut in 1992. He has participated in five different spaceflights, including three missions to repair and upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope.
He has registered more than 58 days in space as well as 58 hours and 30 minutes worth of extravehicular activity (EVA) in eight spacewalks.
When his time as an astronaut ended, Grunsfeld became the deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore. He was involved in several science programs for Hubble and James Webb Space Telescopes.
Kent Rominger started serving as an astronaut in 1992. He is also a veteran of five space flights much like Grunsfeld. He registered more than 67 days in space.
Rominger served as pilot in three of those flights and two as the commander of the mission. His main contributions were part of early efforts in establishing the International Space Station (ISS). As the commander for the STS-96 mission, he oversaw the historic docking of the first space shuttle to the space station.
Steve Lindsey was first selected as an astronaut in 1995. In his time with NASA, he served in five space missions, including the STS-95 where he was a teammate of U.S. senator and former astronaut John Glenn, the STS-121 where he was on the second return to flight mission after the loss of Columbia and the STS-133, which is the last flight of the Discovery space shuttle. He registered 63 days in space.
M. Rhea Seddon was a member of the first class astronauts to feature a woman in 1978. She went to become a NASA astronaut in 1979 and participated in three space flights, where she registered more than 30 days in space.
In her space missions, Seddon conducted several medical experiments in space. She has also contributed programs for the development of space shuttles.
