Astronauts S. Lucid and J. Ross Inducted into Hall of Fame

Astronauts Shannon Lucid and Jerry Ross joined an elite group of American space heroes with their induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame during a ceremony at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The ceremony was held in the new Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction. Atlantis carried Lucid to Mir for her historic 188 days on the space station in 1996, and five of Ross’ seven flights were on Atlantis, so it’s fitting that they received this great honor underneath the orbiter herself.

There were 25 legendary astronauts welcoming the inductees, including 2013 inductees Curt Brown and Bonnie Dunbar, as well as John Blaha, Karol “Bo” Bobko, NASA administrator Charlie Bolden, Vance Brand, Dan Brandenstein, Kennedy Space Center director Bob Cabana, Frank Culbertson, Walt Cunningham, Owen Garriott, Hoot Gibson, Dick Gordon, Fred Gregory, Fred Haise, Steve Hawley, Jeff Hoffman, Edgar Mitchell, Pinky Nelson, Charlie Precourt, Brewster Shaw, Loren Shriver, Tom Stafford, Kathy Thornton and Jim Wetherbee.

    Jerry Ross                                               Shannon Lucid

The 2014 inductees were selected by a committee of Hall of Fame astronauts, former NASA officials, flight directors, historians and journalists. The process is administered by the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation. To be eligible, an astronaut must have made his or her first flight at least 17 years before the induction. Candidates must be a U.S. citizen and a NASA-trained commander, pilot or mission specialist who has orbited the earth at least once.

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