TheUnited States Astronaut Hall of Fame, located inside theKennedy Space Center Visitor Complex Heroes & Legends building onMerritt Island, Florida, honors Americanastronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memorabilia, focusing on those astronauts who have been inducted into the Hall. Exhibits includeWally Schirra'sSigma 7 space capsule from the fifth crewedMercury mission and theGemini IXspacecraft flown byGene Cernan andThomas P. Stafford in 1966.
In the 1980s, the six then-survivingMercury Seven astronauts conceived of establishing a place where US space travelers could be remembered and honored, along the lines ofhalls of fame for other fields.[1] The Mercury Seven Foundation and Astronaut Scholarship Foundation were formed, and have a role in the ongoing operations of the Hall of Fame. The foundation's first executive director was formerAssociated Press space reporter Howard Benedict.
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The Astronaut Hall of Fame was opened on October 29, 1990, by the U.S. Space Camp Foundation, which was the first owner of the facility. It was located next to the Florida branch ofSpace Camp.[2]
The Hall of Fame closed for several months in 2002 when U.S. Space Camp Foundation's creditors foreclosed on the property due to low attendance and mounting debt.[3] That September, an auction was held and the property was purchased byDelaware North Park Services on behalf ofNASA and the property was added to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. The Hall of Fame re-opened December 14, 2002.[4]
The Hall of Fame, which was originally located just west of the NASA Causeway, closed to the public on November 2, 2015, in preparation for its relocation to the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex 6 miles (9.7 km) to the east on Merritt Island. Outside of the original building was a full-scale replica of a Space Shuttle orbiter namedInspiration (originally named "Shuttle To Tomorrow" where visitors could enter and view a program).Inspiration served only as an outdoor, full scale, static display which visitors could not enter. After the Hall of Fame was transferred to the KSC Visitor Complex,Inspiration was acquired by LVX System and was placed in storage at the Shuttle Landing Facility at the Kennedy Space Center; in 2016, the shuttle was loaded on to a barge to be taken for refurbishment before going on an educational tour.[5]
The building was purchased at auction by visitor complex operatorDelaware North and renamed the ATX Center, and for a time housed educational programs including Camp Kennedy Space Center and the Astronaut Training Experience.[6] Those programs have since been moved to the KSC Visitor Complex, and as of December 2019, the structure was being offered for lease. In July 2020, Lockheed Martin announced it would lease the building to support work on the NASAOrion crew capsule.[7]
Inductees into the Hall of Fame are selected by a blue ribbon committee of former NASA officials and flight controllers, historians, journalists, and other space authorities (including former astronauts) based on their accomplishments in space or their contributions to the advancement of space exploration.[8] Except for 2002, inductions have been held every year since 2001.
As its inaugural class in 1990, the Hall of Fame inducted the United States' original group of astronauts: the Mercury Seven. In addition to being the first American astronauts, they set several firsts in American spaceflight, both auspicious and tragic.Alan Shepard was the first American in space and later became one of the twelve people to walk on the Moon.John Glenn was the first American to orbit theEarth and after his induction went on, in 1998, to become the oldest man to fly in space, aged 77.Gus Grissom was the first American to fly in space twice and was the commander of the ill-fatedApollo 1, which resulted in the first astronaut deaths directly related to preparation for spaceflight.[9]
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Thirteen astronauts from theGemini andApollo programs were inducted in the second class of 1993.[10] This class included the first and last humans to walk on the Moon,Neil Armstrong andEugene Cernan;Ed White, the first American towalk in space (also killed in the Apollo 1 accident);Jim Lovell, commander of the famously near-tragicApollo 13; andJohn Young, whose six flights included a moonwalk and command of the firstSpace Shuttle mission.
The third class was inducted in 1997 and consisted of the 24 additional Apollo,Skylab, and ASTP astronauts. Notable members of the class wereRoger Chaffee, the third astronaut killed in the Apollo 1 fire and the only unflown astronaut in the Hall;Harrison Schmitt, the first scientist and next-to-last person to walk on theMoon; andJack Swigert andFred Haise, the Apollo 13 crewmembers not previously inducted.
The philosophy regarding the first three groups of inductees was that all astronauts who flew in NASA's "pioneering" programs (which would include Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Apollo Applications Program (Skylab), and Apollo-Soyuz Test Project) would be included simply by virtue of their participation in a spaceflight in these early programs. The first group (the inaugural class of 1990) would only include the original Mercury astronauts (most of whom would go on to fly in later programs). The second group of inductees would include those astronauts who began their spaceflight careers during Gemini (all of whom would go on to fly in later programs). The third group of inductees would include those astronauts who began their spaceflight careers during Apollo, Skylab, and ASTP (some of whom would go on to fly in the Space Shuttle program). Since it would not be practical (or meaningful) to induct all astronauts who ever flew in space, all subsequent inductees (Space Shuttle program and beyond) are considered based on their accomplishments and contributions to the human spaceflight endeavor which would set them apart from their peers.
Over four dozen astronauts from the Space Shuttle program have been inducted since 2001. Among these areSally Ride, the first American woman in space;Story Musgrave, who flew six missions in the 1980s and 90s; andFrancis Scobee, commander of theill-fated finalChallenger mission.[11]
The 2010 class consisted ofGuion Bluford Jr.,Kenneth Bowersox,Frank Culbertson andKathryn Thornton.[12] The 2011 inductees wereKarol Bobko andSusan Helms.[13] The 2012 inductees wereFranklin Chang-Diaz,Kevin Chilton andCharles Precourt.[14]Bonnie Dunbar,Curt Brown andEileen Collins were inducted in 2013,[15] andShannon Lucid andJerry Ross comprised the 2014 class.[16]
Those inducted in 2015 wereJohn Grunsfeld,Steven Lindsey,Kent Rominger, andRhea Seddon. In 2016, inductees includedBrian Duffy andScott E. Parazynski.Ellen Ochoa andMichael Foale were announced as the 2017 class of the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame.Scott Altman andThomas Jones followed in 2018. The 2019 inductees wereJames Buchli andJanet L. Kavandi.[17]
Michael López-Alegría,Scott Kelly andPamela Melroy were the 2020 inductees, inducted in a November 2021 ceremony. The 2022 inductees wereChristopher Ferguson,David Leestma, andSandra Magnus.Roy Bridges Jr. andMark Kelly were the 2023 inductees.[18] The 2024 inductees wereDavid C. Hilmers andMarsha Ivins.[19]
The Hall of Heroes is composed of tributes to the inductees. Among the Hall of Fame's displays isSigma 7, the Mercury spacecraft piloted by Wally Schirra which orbited the Earth six times in 1962, and theGemini 9A capsule flown byGene Cernan andThomas P. Stafford in 1966. An Astronaut Adventure room includes simulators for use by children.
Thespacesuit worn by Gus Grissom during his 1961Liberty Bell 7 Mercury flight is on display and has been the subject of a dispute between NASA and Grissom's heirs and supporters since 2002. The spacesuit, along with other Grissom artifacts, were loaned to the original owners of the Hall of Fame by the Grissom family when it opened. After the Hall of Fame went into bankruptcy and was taken over by a NASA contractor in 2002, the family requested that all their items be returned.[20] All of the items were returned to Grissom's family except the spacesuit, because both NASA and the Grissoms claim ownership of it.[21] NASA claims Grissom checked out the spacesuit for ashow and tell at his son's school, and then never returned it, while the Grissoms claim Gus rescued the spacesuit from a scrap heap.[22]
28°31′22″N80°40′59″W / 28.522840°N 80.683022°W /28.522840; -80.683022
