NOLS Graduates on Discovery’s Last Flight

All six astronauts on space shuttle Discovery, which launched this afternoon, are NOLS graduates. Commander Steve Lindsey, Pilot Eric Boe, Steve Bowen, Alvin Drew, Michael Barratt and Nicole Stott took NOLS courses between 2002-2007.

Steve Bowen, a three-times NOLS graduate, demonstrated his tolerance for adversity and uncertainty when asked to join the Discovery mission just six weeks ago after Tim Kopra was injured in a bicycle accident. Bowen recently served as lead space walker on a May 2010 mission.

This will be the 39th and final flight for Discovery. In more than 5,600 orbits, Discovery has logged 143 million miles since 1984.

That is an impressive number—significantly more than the fifty miles or so covered on foot, by sea kayak or canoe on their twelve day NOLS courses.