NASA Astronaut Group 15

NASA Astronaut Group 15 ("The Flying Escargot") was a group of 23 NASA astronauts announced on December 8, 1994.^[1][2] Group members adopted The Flying Escargot as their moniker, in reference to two members of the group being from France.^[3] The group featured ten pilots, nine mission specialists, and four international mission specialist trainees from France,^[4][5][6] Canada^[7] and Japan.^[7]

The Flying Escargot
The astronauts of Group 15
Year selected	1994
Number selected	23
← 14 (1992) 16 (1996) →

Three members of this group, Rick Husband, Michael P. Anderson, and Kalpana Chawla, died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.^[8] These three received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.^[9][10][11]

Another member of the group Pamela Melroy, served as Deputy Administrator of NASA from 2021 to 2025, having been appointed by US President Joe Biden.^[12]

Pilots

• Scott Altman^[13]
  • Pilot, STS-90 Columbia^[14] (Neurolab)
  • Pilot, STS-106 Atlantis^[15]
  • Commander, STS-109 Columbia^[16]
  • Commander, STS-125 Atlantis^[17]
• Jeffrey Ashby^[18]
  • Pilot, STS-93 Columbia^[19]
  • Pilot, STS-100 Endeavour^[20]
  • Commander, STS-112 Atlantis^[21]
• Michael Bloomfield^[22]
  • Pilot, STS-86 Atlantis^[23]
  • Pilot, STS-97 Endeavour^[24]
  • Commander, STS-110 Atlantis^[25]
• Joe F. Edwards, Jr.^[26]
  • Pilot, STS-89 Endeavour^[27]
• Dominic L. Pudwill Gorie^[28]
  • Pilot, STS-91 Discovery^[29]
  • Pilot, STS-99 Endeavour^[30]
  • Commander, STS-108 Endeavour^[31]
  • Commander, STS-123 Endeavour^[32]
• Rick Husband^[9]
  • Pilot, STS-96 Discovery^[33]
  • Commander, STS-107 Columbia†^[34]
• Steven Lindsey^[35]
  • Pilot, STS-87 Columbia^[36]
  • Pilot, STS-95 Discovery^[37]
  • Commander, STS-104 Atlantis^[21]
  • Commander, STS-121 Discovery^[38]
  • Commander, STS-133 Discovery^[39]
• Pamela Melroy^[40]
  • Pilot, STS-92 Discovery^[41]
  • Pilot, STS-112 Atlantis^[42]
  • Commander, STS-120 Discovery^[43]
• Susan L. Still-Kilrain^[44]
  • Pilot, STS-83 Columbia^[45]
  • Pilot, STS-94 Columbia^[46]
• Frederick Sturckow^[47]
  • Pilot, STS-88 Endeavour^[48]
  • Pilot, STS-105 Discovery^[49]
  • Commander, STS-117 Atlantis^[50]
  • Commander, STS-128 Discovery^[51]

Mission Specialists

• Michael P. Anderson^[10]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-89 Endeavour^[27]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-107 Columbia†^[34]
• Kalpana Chawla^[11]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-87 Columbia^[36]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-107 Columbia†^[34]
• Robert Curbeam^[52]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-85 Discovery^[53]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-98 Atlantis^[54]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-116 Discovery^[55]
• Kathryn Hire^[56]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-90 Columbia^[14]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-130 Endeavour^[57]
• Janet Kavandi^[58]
  • STS-91 Discovery^[29]
  • STS-99 Endeavour^[30]
  • STS-104 Atlantis^[21]
• Edward Tsang Lu^[59]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-84 Atlantis^[60]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-104 Atlantis^[21]
  • Flight Engineer, Soyuz TMA-2^[61]
  • Flight Engineer, Expedition 7^[61]
• Carlos I. Noriega^[62]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-84 Atlantis^[60]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-97 Endeavour^[24]
• James F. Reilly^[63]
  • STS-89 Endeavour^[27]
  • STS-104 Atlantis^[21]
  • STS-117 Atlantis^[50]
• Stephen Robinson^[64]
  • STS-85 Discovery^[53]
  • STS-95 Discovery^[37]
  • STS-114 Discovery^[65]
  • STS-130 Endeavour^[57]

International mission specialists

• Jean-Loup Chrétien (France)^[7]
  • Research Cosmonaut, Soyuz T-6^{[66]: 49(64)}
  • Research Cosmonaut, Soyuz TM-6/TM-7^{[66]: 55(70)} (Mir Aragatz)
  • Mission Specialist, STS-86 Atlantis ^[23]
• Takao Doi (Japan)^[67]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-87 Columbia^[36]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-123 Endeavour^[32]
• Michel Tognini (France)^[7]
  • Research Cosmonaut, Soyuz TM-15/TM-14^{[66]: 57-58(72-73)}
  • Mission Specialist, STS-93 Columbia^[19]
• Dafydd Williams (Canada)^[68]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-90 Columbia^[14]
  • Mission Specialist, STS-118 Endeavour^[69]