Satellite News

Space shuttle Endeavour is scheduled to land at Florida's Kennedy Space Center today with a touchdown at 10:48 a.m. EDT. The shuttle would begin its descent from orbit with a deorbit engine firing at 9:42 a.m. Weather conditions at Kennedy are forecast to be favorable for landing, although a slight chance of rain is possible.

A second opportunity exists for a landing in Florida today, beginning with a deorbit engine firing at 11:16 a.m., leading to a 12:22 p.m. touchdown. No other shuttle landing sites are being considered for a landing today. If weather prevents a landing today, alternate landing sites would be called up for Saturday’s landing opportunities.

Thursday, Endeavour Commander Mark Polansky and Pilot Doug Hurley checked out the systems the shuttle will use as it returns home, finding everything in excellent shape. The crew also deployed two pairs of small satellites from canisters in the shuttle’s payload bay.

This Hubble picture, taken on July 23, by the new Wide Field Camera 3, is the sharpest visible-light picture taken of the atmospheric debris from a comet or asteroid that collided with Jupiter on July 19. This is Hubble's first science observation following its repair and upgrade in May. The size of the impactor is estimated to be as large as several football fields.

NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has taken the sharpest visible-light picture yet of atmospheric debris from an object that collided with Jupiter on July 19. NASA scientists decided to interrupt the recently refurbished observatory's checkout and calibration to take the image of a new, expanding spot on the giant planet on July 23.

Discovered by Australian amateur astronomer Anthony Wesley, the spot was created when a small comet or asteroid plunged into Jupiter's atmosphere and disintegrated. The only other time such a feature has been seen on Jupiter was 15 years ago after the collision of fragments from comet Shoemaker-Levy 9.

"Because we believe this magnitude of impact is rare, we are very fortunate to see it with Hubble," said Amy Simon-Miller of NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "Details seen in the Hubble view shows a lumpiness to the debris plume caused by turbulence in Jupiter's atmosphere."

The new Hubble images also confirm that a May servicing visit by space shuttle astronauts was a big success.

"This image of the impact on Jupiter is fantastic," said U.S. Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman of the Commerce, Justice and Science Appropriations Subcommittee. "It tells us that our astronauts and the ground crew at the Goddard Space Flight Center successfully repaired the Hubble telescope. I'm so proud of them and I can't wait to see what's next from Hubble."

For the past several days, Earth-based telescopes have been trained on Jupiter. To capture the unfolding drama 360 million miles away, Matt Mountain, director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, gave observation time to a team of astronomers led by Heidi Hammel of the Space Science Institute in Boulder, Colo.

"Hubble's truly exquisite imaging capability has revealed an astonishing wealth of detail in the impact site," Hammel said. "By combining these images with our ground-based data at other wavelengths, our Hubble data will allow a comprehensive understanding of exactly what is happening to the impact debris."

Simon-Miller estimated the diameter of the impacting object was the size of several football fields. The force of the explosion on Jupiter was thousands of times more powerful than the suspected comet or asteroid that exploded over the Siberian Tunguska River Valley in June 1908.

The image was taken with the Wide Field Camera 3. The new camera, installed by the astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis in May, is not yet fully calibrated. While it is possible to obtain celestial images, the camera's full power has yet to be seen.

"This is just one example of what Hubble's new, state-of-the-art camera can do, thanks to the STS-125 astronauts and the entire Hubble team," said Ed Weiler, associate administrator of NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington. "However, the best is yet to come."

Spacewalkers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy conducted a four-hour, 54-minute spacewalk and completed the mission’s work on the outside of the Japanese Kibo laboratory Monday.

The pair installed video cameras on the front and back of the new Japanese Exposed Facility. The cameras will provide views to help with rendezvous and berthing of the H-II Transfer Vehicle scheduled to make its first deliveries to the International Space Station in September.

Marshburn and Cassidy also completed miscellaneous tasks around the station. They secured multi-layer insulation around the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator known as Dextre, split out power channels for two space station Control Moment Gyroscopes, tied down some cables and installed handrails and a portable foot restraint to aid future spacewalkers. The deployment of the Payload Attach System on the S3 Truss was deferred to another spacewalk sometime in the future.

The shuttle and station crews will awaken around 3 a.m. EDT Tuesday to prepare for undocking. They will bid each other farewell and close the hatches at 10:23 a.m., followed by undocking at 1:26 p.m.

The crew of space shuttle Endeavour was awakened by the song “On the Sunny Side of the Street,” performed by Steve Tyrell and played especially for Commander Mark Polansky.

Spacewalkers Tom Marshburn and Chris Cassidy head outside to begin STS-127’s final spacewalk at 8:28 a.m. EDT. They first will secure multi-layer insulation around the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator known as DEXTRE. On the Zenith 1 patch panel, they will split out power channels for two of the four space station Control Moment Gyroscopes, which provide non-propulsive attitude control for the station. Currently two of the gyros are fed from the same power channel, and this activity will prevent a failure on one channel from disabling both of the gyros. Next, Marshburn and Cassidy will install video cameras on the front and back of the new Japanese Exposed Facility. And their final task will be to deploy a Payload Attach System on the Starboard 3 truss that will provide storage capability for spare space station hardware. The spacewalk is planned to last no more than six hours, 30 minutes.

Astronauts Set for Final Spacewalk of STS-127 Mission


The final full day of activities for the joint crew of Endeavour and the International Space Station will focus on the fifth and final spacewalk of the mission.

Spacewalkers Chris Cassidy and Tom Marshburn spent the night camped out in the Quest airlock. The primary objective of the spacewalk is to install two cameras on Japan’s Kibo laboratory that will provide views to help with rendezvous and berthing of the H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV). The HTV is scheduled to make its first deliveries to the station in September.

The six-and-a-half-hour spacewalk also includes an electrical cable swap and adjustment of insulation blankets on the Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator. If time permits, the pair also will deploy a Payload Attachment System on the Starboard 3 truss structure that will allow an external spare parts stowage platform to be installed on a future shuttle mission.

Inside the complex, Polansky and Mission Specialist Dave Wolf will support the spacewalkers, and Pilot Doug Hurley will continue cargo transfers, which are more than 80 percent complete.

Twenty-nine undergraduate and graduate students are participating in a six-week NASA Airborne Science field experience designed to immerse them in NASA's Earth Science research. The students represent 26 colleges and universities across the U.S. and nine foreign countries.

NASA's Student Airborne Research program runs from July 6 to Aug. 14 in California. The program began with lectures from university faculty members, research institutions and NASA scientists at the University of California, Irvine. One of the speakers is Sherwood Rowland of the University of California, Irvine, a Nobel Laureate in chemistry, who is a long-time user of NASA's DC-8 airborne capabilities for his research on atmospheric chemistry.

Using the DC-8 flying laboratory based at NASA's Dryden Aircraft Operations Facility in Palmdale, Calif., the students will get a rare behind-the-scenes look at instrument integration, flight planning and payload testing that is the basis of every successful Earth Science airborne campaign carried out by NASA. These airborne research campaigns play a pivotal role in the calibration and validation of NASA's space-borne Earth observations, remote sensing measurements and the high-resolution imagery for Earth system science.

Divided into the investigative groups of atmospheric science, algal blooms and crop classification, students will have the opportunity to fly aboard one of two six-hour DC-8 flights departing from NASA's Palmdale facility. The aircraft will travel north over the San Joaquin Valley for an air-quality investigation, over the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to observe vegetation, and south over Monterey Bay to research algae blooms.

The student program is one of NASA's tools for training future scientists for Earth Science missions that can assist with studies and the development and testing of new instruments and future satellite mission concepts. The program's goal is to stimulate interest in NASA's Earth Science research and aid in recruitment of the next generation of engineers and scientists. Through this and the agency's other college and university programs, NASA is developing critical skills and capabilities needed for the agency's engineering, scientific and technical missions.

The Student Airborne Research Program is managed through the National Suborbital Education and Research Center at the University of North Dakota, with funding and support from NASA's Airborne Science Program. The center was established through a cooperative agreement between the University of North Dakota and NASA.

For additional information about NASA's DC-8, visit:


For more information about NASA's Education programs, visit:


For additional information about the National Suborbital Education and Research Center at the University of North Dakota, visit:

Spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Chris Cassidy wrapped up a five-hour, 59-minute spacewalk at 4:31 p.m. EDT. The spacewalk ended earlier than planned because of higher than normal carbon dioxide levels in Cassidy's spacesuit.

The pair removed multilayer insulation from the Kibo module and readied the Japanese Exposed Section payloads for their transfer to the Exposed Facility on Thursday, but they were unable to replace all six of the original batteries on the International Space Station's Port 6 truss 2B power channel. The remaining batteries will be replaced on a future spacewalk.

This was the third of five STS-127 spacewalks, the 128th in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 798 hours, 30 minutes. It was the 100th spacewalk out of space station airlocks and the 216th American spacewalk in history. It was Wolf's seventh spacewalk, totaling 41 hours, 57 minutes and placing him 14th on the all-time list. It was Cassidy's first excursion.

NASA Television airs a Mission Status briefing at 7:30 p.m. with STS-127 Lead Flight Director Holly Ridings and STS-127 Lead Spacewalk Officer Kieth Johnson.

At 3 p.m. EDT, NASA Television will air the edited video footage from STS-127 Solid Rocket Booster cameras.

Endeavour’s crew is enjoying off-duty time this afternoon before undertaking preparations for Wednesday’s third spacewalk. At 5:58 p.m. the crew will conduct a spacewalk procedure review and at 8:28 p.m. spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Chris Cassidy will camp out in the Quest Airlock. The International Space Station crew goes to sleep at 9:33 p.m., followed 30 minutes later by the shuttle crew.



Crews Tackle Robotics, Spacewalk Preparations

The combined efforts of the International Space Station and Space Shuttle Endeavour crews were successful in installing the Japanese Logistics Module-Exposed Section using two robotic arms.

Commander Mark Polansky and mission specialist Julie Payette operated the robotic arm aboard the space shuttle to pass the platform from Endeavour to Canadarm2 on the space station. Canadarm2 was operated by mission specialist Koichi Wakata and shuttle pilot Doug Hurley.

The Japanese Exposed Section was installed at about 9:30 a.m. The Japanese robotic arm on the station will be used Thursday to take experiments from that Exposed Section and install them on the new porch of the Kibo laboratory.

Astronauts Dave Wolf and Chris Cassidy began preparations for their spacewalk Wednesday, which is scheduled to begin at 9:58 a.m. Wolf and Cassidy changed out a series of spacesuit batteries to prepare for their spacewalk.

Tonight they will sleep in the airlock where they will adjust to a lower pressure, going from 14.7 psi to 10 psi, to adapt for the conditions in their spacesuit. This spacewalk will be the third spacewalk of the mission and will focus on the installation of four of the six Port 6 (P6) Truss batteries.

Polansky, Hurley, Payette and Wolf took time to answer questions posed by visitors on YouTube and Twitter. Polansky is providing regular updates on the mission’s progress from space via Twitter at http://twitter.com/Astro_127.

Spacewalkers Dave Wolf and Tom Marshburn wrapped up a six hour, 53 minute spacewalk at 6:20 p.m. EDT.

Wolf and Marshburn completed most of their planned tasks, deferring a video camera setup to a future spacewalk. Wolf removed three hardware spares – a Ku-Band Space-to-Ground Antenna, a Pump Module and a Linear Drive Unit, from the Integrated Cargo Carrier – Vertical Light Deployable (ICC-VLD). With each spare in hand, Wolf rode the space station robotic arm from the ICC to the Port 3 external stowage platform (ESP-3), where he and Marshburn attached them for long-term storage. Julie Payette and Doug Hurley operated the robotic arm. Marshburn mounted a grapple bar onto an ammonia tank assembly so that the STS-128 space shuttle mission in August can move the tank by robotic arm. Marshburn also attached two insulation sleeves for the Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System.

This was the second of five STS-127 spacewalks, the 127th in support of International Space Station assembly and maintenance, totaling 792 hours, 31 minutes. It was the 215th American spacewalk in history. It was Wolf’s sixth spacewalk, totaling 38 hours, 44 minutes and placing him 19th on the all-time list. It was Marshburn’s first excursion.

NASA Television airs a Mission Status briefing at 8:30 p.m. with STS-127 Lead Flight Director Holly Ridings and STS-127 Lead Extravehicular Activity Officer Kieth Johnson.

Neil Armstrong was supposed to be asleep. The moon walking was done. The moon rocks were stowed away. His ship was ready for departure. In just a few hours, the Eagle's ascent module would blast off the Moon, something no ship had ever attempted before, and Neil needed his wits about him. He curled up on the Eagle's engine cover and closed his eyes.

But he could not sleep.

Neither could Buzz Aldrin. In the cramped lander, Buzz had the sweet spot, the floor. He stretched out as much as he could in his spacesuit and closed his eyes. Nothing happened. On a day like this, what else could you expect...?

July 20, 1969: The day began on the farside of the Moon. Armstrong, Aldrin and crewmate Mike Collins flew their spaceship 60 miles above the cratered wasteland. No one on Earth can see the Moon's farside. Even today it remains a land of considerable mystery, but the astronauts had no time for sight-seeing. Collins pressed a button, activating a set of springs, and the spaceship split in two. The half named Columbia, with Collins on board, would remain in orbit. The other half, the Eagle, spiraled over the horizon toward the Sea of Tranquillity.

"You are Go for powered descent," Houston radioed, and the Eagle's engine fired mightily. The bug-shaped Eagle was so fragile a child could poke a hole through its gold foil exterior. Jagged moonrocks could do much worse. So when Armstrong saw that the computer was guiding them into a boulder field, he quickly took control. The Eagle pitched forward and sailed over the rocks.

Meanwhile, alarms were ringing in the background.

"Program alarm," announced Armstrong. "It's a 1202." The code was so obscure, almost no one knew what it meant. Should they abort? Should they land? "What is it?" he insisted.

Scrambling back in Houston, a young engineer named Steve Bales produced the answer: The radar guidance system was pestering the computer with too many interruptions. No problem. "We've got you..." radioed Houston. "We're Go on that alarm."

And on they went. Things, however, were not going exactly as planned. The Sea of Tranquillity was supposed to be smooth, but it didn't look so smooth from the cockpit of the Eagle. Armstrong scanned the jumbled mare for a safe place to land. "60 seconds," radioed Houston. "30 seconds." Mission control was hushed as the telemetry came in. Soon, too soon, the ship would run out of fuel.

Capcom later claimed the "boys in mission control were turning blue" when Armstrong announced "I [found] a good spot." As for Armstrong, his heart was thumping 156 beats per minute according to bio-sensors. The fuel gauge read only 5.6% when the Eagle finally settled onto the floor of the Sea of Tranquillity.

Houston (relieved): "We copy you down, Eagle."

Armstrong (coolly): "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed."

Immediately, they prepared to leave. This was NASA being cautious. No one had ever landed on the Moon before. What if a footpad started sinking into the moondust, or the Eagle sprung a leak? While Neil and Buzz made ready to blast off, Houston read the telemetry looking for signs of trouble. There were none, and three hours after touchdown, finally, Houston gave the "okay." The moonwalk was on.

At 9:56 p.m. EDT, Neil descended the ladder and took "one small step" (left foot first) into history. From the shadow of the Eagle, he looked around: "It has a stark beauty all its own--like the high desert of the United States." Houston reminded him to gather the "contingency sample," and Neil put some rocks and soil in his pocket. If, for any reason, the astronauts had to take off in a hurry, scientists back on Earth would get at least a pocketful of the Moon for their experiments.More..

Forty years ago, Apollo astronauts set out on a daring adventure to explore the Moon. They ended up discovering their own planet.

How do you discover Earth … by leaving it? It all started with a single photograph:


Apollo 8 was the first crewed Saturn V launch and the first time humans were placed in lunar orbit. Mission plans called for the astronauts to photograph possible landing sites for future missions. Before this, only robotic probes had taken images of the Moon's far side.

As the astronauts in their spacecraft emerged from behind the Moon, they were surprised and enchanted by an amazing view of Earth rising over the lunar horizon. Bill Anders quickly snapped a picture of the spectacular Earthrise – it was not in the mission script.

His timing could not have been better. It was Christmas Eve, 1968, the close of one of the most turbulent, fractured years in U.S. and world history. The picture offered a much needed new perspective on "home."

For the first time in history, humankind looked at Earth and saw not a jigsaw puzzle of states and countries on an uninspiring flat map – but rather a whole planet uninterrupted by boundaries, a fragile sphere of dazzling beauty floating alone in a dangerous void. There was a home worthy of careful stewardship.

The late nature photographer Galen Rowell described this photo as "the most influential environmental photograph ever taken."

"It changed humanity's entire orientation," says Kristen Erickson of NASA headquarters in Washington, DC. "And similar photos taken by the Apollo 11 through 17 crews reinforced the impact of this first view."

Apollo photos of the big blue marble energized grass-roots green movements and led directly to the modern fleet of Earth observing satellites NASA uses to monitor and predict weather, examine ozone holes, investigate climate change, and much more.1 Like Anders' camera, these satellites have transformed the way we view the planet we call Earth.

Left: 40 years after Apollo, a fleet of satellites encircle Earth, monitoring and studying our home planet. Image credit: NASA
We gained all this by shooting for the Moon.

The Apollo astronauts were, by their own admissions, profoundly moved and changed when they gazed upon Earth from their unique position in space.

"It changed my life,"2 said Rusty Schweickart, Apollo 9 astronaut.

"…You only see the boundaries of nature from there…not those that are manmade," said Eugene Cernan of Apollos 10 and 17. "It is one of the deepest, most emotional experiences I have ever had."3

Apollo 17 was the last crewed Moon mission. Since then, no humans have been to the place where they can float and gaze at the whole Earth. The crew of the International Space Station has a beautiful view of Earth, but not the whole Earth. Because the space station is in low-Earth orbit, only a portion of the planet can be seen at any one time. For the big picture view, the Moon can't be beat.

Soon, we'll be back. Right now, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter is circling the Moon gathering critical data NASA scientists need to plan for renewed human exploration. NASA is once again charting a daring mission to the Moon -- this time to stay.


Above: "The Big Blue Marble." This is one of the last Apollo photos of the whole Earth, taken by the crew of Apollo 17. More
There are many compelling reasons to return. Former space shuttle astronaut Joseph Allen thinks our own planet is one of them:

"With all the arguments, pro and con, for going to the Moon, no one suggested that we should do it to look at the Earth. But that may in fact be the most important reason."4

In his recent confirmation hearing to take NASA's helm as administrator, former astronaut Charles F. Bolden said, "I dream of a day when any American can launch into space and see the magnificence and grandeur of our home planet."

Until then, a few astronauts will take the ride for all of us, and they'll be carrying cameras a thousand times more advanced than Apollo.

What the space agency shows us will surely expand our vision. It always has.

Nominated by President Barack Obama, Lori Beth Garver was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 15, 2009, as the Deputy Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

As deputy administrator, Garver is NASA's second in command. She is responsible to the administrator for providing overall leadership, planning, and policy direction for the agency. Garver represents NASA to the Executive Office of the President, Congress, heads of government agencies, international organizations, and external organizations and communities. She also oversees the work of NASA’s functional offices, including the Office of the Chief Financial Officer, Office of General Counsel and Office of Strategic Communications.

Garver's confirmation as deputy administrator marks the second time she has worked for NASA. Her first stint at the agency was from 1996 to 2001. Initially, she served as a special assistant to the NASA administrator and senior policy analyst for the Office of Policy and Plans, before becoming the associate administrator for the Office of Policy and Plans. Reporting to the NASA administrator, she oversaw the analysis, development and integration of policies and long-range plans, the NASA Strategic Management System, and the NASA Advisory Council.

A native of Michigan, Garver was born May 22, 1961. She graduated from Haslett High School in Haslett, Michigan, in 1979 and four years later, in 1983, she earned a bachelor's degree in political science and economics from Colorado College. Her focus turned to space when she accepted a job working for Sen. John Glenn from 1983 to 1984. She since has served in a variety of senior roles in the nonprofit, government and commercial sectors.

Garver worked at the newly formed National Space Society from 1984 to 1996, becoming its second executive director in 1987. She served as the society's primary spokesperson, making frequent appearances on national television and regularly testifying on Capitol Hill. During that time, she also earned a master's degree in science, technology and public policy from George Washington University in 1989.

After working at NASA from 1996 to 2001, Garver was employed as the vice president of DFI Corporate Services from 2001 to 2003. From January 2001 until her nomination as NASA's deputy administrator, she was a full-time consultant as the president of Capital Space, LLC, and senior advisor for space at the Avascent Group. In these roles, she provided strategic planning, technology feasibility research and business development assistance, as well as merger, acquisition and strategic alliance support, to financial institutions and Fortune 500 companies.

Garver was the lead civil space policy advisor for the 2008 Obama presidential campaign and helped guide the agency review team for NASA during the post-election transition. Previously, she served as the lead space policy advisor for the Hillary Clinton and John Kerry campaigns for president and represented them at various events and conferences. Garver has held numerous advocacy roles for space exploration as a member of the NASA Advisory Council, a guest lecturer at the International Space University, president and board member of Women in Aerospace, and president of the American Astronautical Society. She lives in Virginia with her husband, David Brandt, and their sons Wesley and Mitchell.

Nominated by President Barack Obama, retired Marine Corps Maj. Gen. Charles Frank Bolden, Jr. was confirmed on July 15, 2009, by the U.S. Senate as the twelfth Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. As Administrator, he will lead the NASA team and manage its resources to advance the agency's missions and goals.

Bolden's confirmation marks the beginning of his second stint with the nation's space agency. His 34-year career with the Marine Corps included 14 years as a member of NASA's Astronaut Office. After joining the office in 1980, he traveled to orbit four times aboard the space shuttle between 1986 and 1994, commanding two of the missions. His flights included deployment of the Hubble Space Telescope and the first joint U.S.-Russian shuttle mission, which featured a cosmonaut as a member of his crew. Prior to Bolden's nomination for the NASA Administrator's job, he was employed as the Chief Executive Officer of JACKandPANTHER LLC, a small business enterprise providing leadership, military and aerospace consulting, and motivational speaking.

A resident of Houston, Bolden was born Aug. 19, 1946, in Columbia, S.C. He graduated from C. A. Johnson High School in 1964 and received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy. Bolden earned a bachelor of science degree in electrical science in 1968 and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Marine Corps. After completing flight training in 1970, he became a naval aviator. Bolden flew more than 100 combat missions in North and South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, while stationed in Namphong, Thailand, from 1972-1973.

After returning to the U.S., Bolden served in a variety of positions in the Marine Corps in California and earned a master of science degree in systems management from the University of Southern California in 1977. Following graduation, he was assigned to the Naval Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Md., and completed his training in 1979. While working at the Naval Air Test Center's Systems Engineering and Strike Aircraft Test Directorates, he tested a variety of ground attack aircraft until his selection as an astronaut candidate in 1980.

Bolden's NASA astronaut career included technical assignments as the Astronaut Office Safety Officer; Technical Assistant to the director of Flight Crew Operations; Special Assistant to the Director of the Johnson Space Center; Chief of the Safety Division at Johnson (overseeing safety efforts for the return to flight after the 1986 Challenger accident); lead astronaut for vehicle test and checkout at the Kennedy Space Center; and Assistant Deputy Administrator at NASA Headquarters. After his final space shuttle flight in 1994, he left the agency to return to the operating forces in the Marine Corps as the Deputy Commandant of Midshipmen at the U.S. Naval Academy.

Bolden was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force in the Pacific in 1997. During the first half of 1998, he served as Commanding General of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force Forward in support of Operation Desert Thunder in Kuwait. Bolden was promoted to his final rank of major general in July 1998 and named Deputy Commander of U.S. Forces in Japan. He later served as the Commanding General of the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego, Calif., from 2000 until 2002, before retiring from the Marine Corps in 2003. Bolden's many military decorations include the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Distinguished Flying Cross. He was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame in May 2006.

Bolden is married to the former Alexis (Jackie) Walker of Columbia, S.C. The couple has two children: Anthony Che, a lieutenant colonel in the Marine Corps, and Kelly Michelle, a medical doctor now serving a fellowship in plastic surgery.