On 15 Apr 2005 12:46:09 -0700, "strindberg"
han_kom_som_ett_yrvader_en_aprilafton_med_ett_hog
wrote:

Which astronauts have waited longest to do his or her first
spaceflight?
Paolo Nespoli from Italy? Deke Slayton (..had to wait from Mercury
until Skylab)?

I guess that all in NASA astronaut group 17 havent got a flight yet,
due to the Columbiadisaster in 2003. Will all in group 17 and later
groups get a flight before the shuttle is cancelled in the end of this
decade?

Bye/ Strindberg



Paolo Nespoli
In 1991, he joined the
European Space Agency's
European Astronaut Centre in Cologne, Germany.

Barbara Morgan
Selected to train as a backup to
Christa McAuliffe on July 19, 1985.

They were both selected to NASA Group 17 Jun 4, 1998.


From each NASA astronaut group
here are the astronauts that had the
shortest and longest wait for a
first flight.


-Group 1 - selected April 2, 1959

Alan Shepard - 2.09 years
Deke Slayton - 16.30 years


-Group 2 - selected Sep 17, 1962

John Young - 2.52 years
Neil Armstrong - 3.50 years
(1 from Group 2 did not fly)


-Group 3 - selected Oct 17, 1963

Dave Scott - 2.41 years
Alan Bean - 6.08 years
(4 from Group 3 did not fly)


-Group 4 - selected Jun 28, 1965

Jack Schmitt - 7.45 years
Ed Gibson - 8.39 years
(2 from Group 4 did not fly)


-Group 5 - selected Apr 4, 1966

Fred Haise & John Swigert - 4.02 years
Joe Engle - 15.62 years
Bruce McCandless - 17.85 years
Don Lind - 19.08 years
(2 from Group 5 did not fly)


-Group 6 - selected Aug 4, 1967

Joe Allen & Bill Lenoir - 15.28 years
Tony England & Karl Henize - 18.00 years
(4 from Group 6 did not fly)


-Group 7 - selected Aug 14, 1969

Bob Crippen - 11.67 years
Karol Bobko & Don Peterson 13.65 years


-Group 8 - selected Jan 16, 1978

John Fabian, Rick Hauck, Sally Ride, Norm Thagard - 5.42 years
Dick Covey - 7.62 years


-Group 9 - Selected May 19, 1980

Dave Leestma - 4.38 years
Dick Richards - 9.23 years


-Group 10 - selected May 23, 1984

William Shepherd - 4.53 years
Sid Gutierrez - 7.04 years


-Group 11 - selected Jun 4, 1985

Pierre Thuot - 4.74 years
Brian Duffy - 6.81 years


-Group 12 - selected Jun 5, 1987

Tom Akers & Bruce Melnick - 3.34 years
Curt Brown, Nancy Davis, Mae Jemison - 5.28 years


-Group 13 - selected Jan 17, 1990

Rich Clifford - 2.88 years
William Gregory - 5.12 years


-Group 14 - selected Mar 31, 1992

Jerry Linenger - 2.44 years
Charles Brady & Richard Linnehan 4.22 years


-Group 15 - selected Dec 9, 1994

Susan Kilrain - 2.32 years
Pamela Melroy - 2.50 years


-Group 16 - selected May 1, 1996

Pedro Durque - 2.50 years
Michael Fincke - 7.97 years
(11 from Group 16 still have not flown)


-Group 17 - selected Jun 4, 1998
(none of the 31 from Group 17 have flown
since their selection. 4 flew as foreign
astronauts prior to this selection.)


-Group 18 - selected Jul 26, 2000
(none of the 17 from Group 18 have flown)


-Group 19 - selected 2004
(none of the 14 from Group 19 have flown)



Rusty