NASA Astronaut Group 9

19+80
Official group portrait
Group 9 astronauts. Back row, L-R: Gardner, Springer, O'Connor, Ockels, Smith, Lounge. Middle row, L-R: Bagian, Blaha, Nicollier, Hilmers, Fisher, Dunbar, Ross. Front row, L-R: Bolden, Chang-Diaz, Cleave, Leestma, Spring, Richards, Bridges
Year selected1980
Number selected19
Class patch; the patch features nineteen stars representing the nineteen NASA astronauts belonging to the group.

NASA Astronaut Group 9 was a group of 19 NASA astronauts announced on May 29, 1980,[1] and completed their training by 1981. This group was selected to supplement the 35 astronauts that had been selected in 1978, and marked the first time that non-Americans were trained as mission specialists with the selections of ESA astronauts Claude Nicollier and Wubbo Ockels. In keeping with the previous group, astronaut candidates were divided into pilots and mission specialists, with eight pilots, eleven mission specialists, and two international mission specialists within the group.[1]

  1. ^ a b White, Terry (May 29, 1980). "80-038: NASA Selects 19 Astronaut Candidates" (PDF). JSC News Releases. Houston, Texas: NASA. pp. 80–81. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 6, 2021. Retrieved May 6, 2021.