CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – Four veteran space shuttle astronauts were inducted Saturday into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, Kennedy Space Center officials said.
John Grunsfeld, Steve Lindsey, Kent Rominger and Rhea Seddon were inducted during a ceremony held in the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex.
This year marks the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, and the induction of the four astronauts brings the hall's total to 91, officials said.
Earlier inductees represent the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz and Space Shuttle programs.
The 2015 inductees accomplished the following:
- Grunsfeld completed eight spacewalks over the course of his five space shuttle missions, officials said. He worked heavily with the Hubble Space Telescope, carrying out three of its five servicing missions.
- Lindsey was pilot and commander of five space shuttle missions. During his last flight, he commanded the 39th and final flight of space shuttle Discovery, which delivered Robonaut 2, the first human-like robot in space, to the International Space Station, officials said.
- Rominger flew aboard five space shuttle missions and was commander of STS-96 Discovery, the first docking of the space shuttle to the ISS, officials said.
- Seddon was selected by NASA in 1978 as part of the first U.S. astronaut class to include women. A veteran of three space flights, officials said Seddon served on STS-40 Columbia as a mission specialist during the first Spacelab Life Sciences flight.
Seddon's induction also represented a first for the Hall of Fame as she joined her husband, Hoot Gibson, in the select group. Officials said the couple also celebrated their 34th anniversary Saturday.
The inductees were selected by a committee of Hall of Fame astronauts, former NASA officials, flight directors, historians and journalists, officials said.