Col. John Blaha, USAF (Ret.)
Former NASA Astronaut Col. John Blaha, USAF (Ret.) completed 361 combat missions in Vietnam following his 1965 graduation from the US Air Force Academy. Accepted as an astronaut in 1980, Col. Blaha logged 161 days in space on 5 missions. The first two in 1989 as the pilot of the Space Shuttle Discovery, the second in 1991 as Commander of the Atlantis, the third in 1993 as Commander of the Columbia and finally in 1997 as a Mission Specialist/Scientist aboard the Mir Space Station. The recipient of numerous honors throughout his career, Col. Blaha is an inductee to the U.S. Astronaut Hall Of Fame.