When NASA finally has a day the weather and its own shuttle launch systems cooperate, Kentucky will add another astronaut to its list of those who have connections here and have flown in space.
Tim Kopra, an Army colonel and astronaut, will take his first flight into space aboard the space shuttle Endeavour as soon things can come together to get STS-127 off launch pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The astronaut is married to the former Dawn Lehman of Lewisburg in Logan County.
Kopra's connection to Kentucky does not stop there, as he served three years at Fort Campbell in the western part of the state as a aeroscout platoon leader in the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). It was while Kopra was serving with the Screamin' Eagles that he met his wife, who was attending Austin Peay State University in nearby Clarksville, Tenn.
Kopra is also part of the Expedition XX International Space Station mission team and is scheduled to remain on the ISS for three months, once the mission is launched.
STS-127 has met with five 'scrubs' in its launch window. Hydrogen leaks in the main external tank postponed the launch on June 13 and June 17. On Friday, July 10, lightning strikes near the launch center caused mission planners to postpone again, while the vehicle was inspected. And on Sunday, the crew of seven astronauts was already sealed in the orbiter when dangerous storm clouds gathered within the 20-mile radius around the shuttle's 'abort' landing site. The delay on Monday was again due to inclement weather.
The launch has been rescheduled for 6:03 p.m. (ET) Wednesday. NASA officials have said the new launch date will be important, as an unmanned Russian is headed to the space station on July 27.
But Kopra's connection to the tiny hamlet of Lewisburg (pop. 900) in southcentral Kentucky is not the only one for a NASA astronaut.
Col. Terry Wilcutt, a Marine, was born in Russellville, Ky., and grew up near Lewisburg before moving to Louisville and graduating from Southern High School. He completed undergraduate work at Western Kentucky University in Bowling Green.
Wilcutt, who now serves as Deputy Director, Safety and Mission Assurance Directorate, Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas, has flown on the shuttle four times - STS-68 Endeavour (Sept. 30 to Oct. 11, 1994), STS-79 Atlantis (Sept. 16-26, 1996), STS-89 Endeavour (Jan. 22-31, 1998) and STS-106 Atlantis (Sept. 8-20, 2000).
Two of his missions took him to the Mir space station, with his final mission filled with preparations for the first permanent crew to occupy the ISS.
He was pilot for his first two missions and commanded the last two. Wilcutt has logged 1,007 hours in space and has flown more than 17.2 million miles. He is also the recipient of NASA's Outstanding Leadership Medal and the Distinguished Service Medal.
Leroy Gordon 'Gordo' Cooper, Jr., was one of the orginal seven Project Mercury astronauts, those made famous with 'The Right Stuff.' Cooper was born in Shawnee, Okla., but spent part of his childhood in Murray in Calloway County where he attended public schools.
Cooper is perhaps best-known for being the first American to sleep in orbit and the last astronaut to launch and conduct a mission alone in space. He was an air force pilot and is one of few NASA astronauts to have ever gone on record with claims of sighting an Unidentified Flying Object (UFO). Cooper often claimed the government was covering up any evidence it had regarding UFOs.
He also flew as part of the Gemini program and was selected for flight in the Apollo program, but was pulled from the schedule after a disagreement with NASA management.
Cooper died from complications from Parkinson's Disease on Oct. 4, 2004.
Story Musgrave, was born in Boston, Mass., yet claims Lexington, Ky., as his hometown. Musgrave, a medical doctor, interned at the University of Kentucky Medical Center from 1964 until 1967 before being selected for astronaut's training. He continued to served on a part-time basis at UK until 1989.
Musgrave is the veteran of six space flights, all on the space shuttle, including STS-6 in April 1983 - the maiden flight of Challenger, which was lost with crew in January 1986. The STS-6 mission included the first EVA to test new space suits that Musgrave himself has designed.
He is the only astronaut to have flown on Columbia, Challenger, Discovery, Atlantis and Endeavour, all of the space-flight ready of the fleet. The first glider-test vehicle is Enterprise. Musgrave was the last of the Apollo-era astronauts to retire from flight status.
Certainly, Kentucky's contribution to space flight goes beyond the astronauts connected to the Commonwealth, as there are engineers, electricians, military personnel and scientists contributing on a daily basis to the future of manned spaced flight in the United States. Engineering and science programs at the state's university's - most notably at Western Kentucky University and the University of Kentucky - help assure the Bluegrass will be contributing to the exploration of space for some time to come.
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