Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, center, along with Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States Michael Kratsios, left, and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, right, listen to remarks by panelists during the National Space Council's first meeting, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence heard testimony from representatives from civil space, commercial space, and national security space industry representatives. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

Acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, center, along with Deputy Chief Technology Officer of the United States Michael Kratsios, left, and Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats, right, listen to remarks by panelists during the National Space Council's first meeting, Thursday, Oct. 5, 2017 at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va. The National Space Council, chaired by Vice President Mike Pence heard testimony from representatives from civil space, commercial space, and national security space industry representatives. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)

JSC2006-E-41540 (22 Sept. 2006) --- The astronauts who yesterday completed the successful STS-115 mission are pictured on a dais in a hangar at Ellington Field after returning to Houston from the Kennedy Space Center, site of the Sept. 21 landing of the Space Shuttle Atlantis. JSC Director Michael Coats addresses the crowd on hand for the event. Seated, from left, are astronauts Brent W. Jett Jr., commander; Christopher J. Ferguson, pilot; Joseph R. Tanner, Daniel C. Burbank, Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper, and the Canadian Space Agency's Steven G. MacLean, all mission specialists.

JSC2008-E-014921 (21 Feb. 2008) --- The crewmembers of the STS-122 mission were welcomed home to Houston Feb. 21, following the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis in Florida on Feb. 20. Johnson Space Center's (JSC) director Michael L. Coats (far right) introduced the crew to the crowd on hand at Ellington Field. From the right are NASA astronauts Steve Frick, commander; Alan Poindexter, pilot; Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Hans Schlegel, NASA astronauts Stanley Love and Daniel Tani, all mission specialists, were welcomed by family and friends during the ceremony.

STS029-S-024 (13 March 1989) --- The flight crew for NASA's STS-29 mission leave the operations and checkout building en route to the van that will transport them to Launch Pad 39B, where Discovery awaits the astronauts for its second post-Challenge flight. Leading the way is astronaut Michael L. Coats, mission commander. He is followed by astronauts John E. Blaha, pilot; and James F. Buchli, James P. Bagian and Robert C. Springer, all mission specialists. In the background are astronaut Daniel C. Brandenstein, chief of the astronaut office, and Donald R. Puddy, director of flight crew operations.

JSC2008-E-014951 (21 Feb. 2008) --- The crewmembers of the STS-122 mission were welcomed home to Houston Feb. 21, following the landing of Space Shuttle Atlantis in Florida on Feb. 20. Johnson Space Center's (JSC) director Michael L. Coats (far right) introduced the crew to the crowd on hand at Ellington Field. From the right are NASA astronauts Steve Frick, commander; Alan Poindexter, pilot; Leland Melvin, Rex Walheim, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Hans Schlegel, NASA astronauts Stanley Love and Daniel Tani (out of frame), all mission specialists, were welcomed by family and friends during the ceremony.

STS032-S-056 (20 Jan 1990) --- STS-32 Columbia, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 102, crewmembers depart the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) Operations and Checkout (O and C) Building enroute to KSC Launch Complex (LC) Pad 39A. Dubious weather at the return-to-launch site (RTLS) caused postponement of yesterday's planned launch. From left to right are Mission Specialist (MS) G. David Low, MS Marsha S. Ivins, MS Bonnie J. Dunbar, Pilot James D. Wetherbee, and Commander Daniel C. Brandenstein. All crewmembers are wearing launch and entry suits (LESs) and Low, Ivins, and Wetherbee wave to spectators as they head to the transportation van. Following the crew are astronaut Michael L. Coats (left) and NASA/JSC manager Donald R. Puddy.

Daniel Bernatowicz, Chief of the Advanced Power Systems Branch at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center, examines a 20-foot section of a solar mirror being fabricated in the Jig Bore Room of the Technical Services Building. NASA Lewis was conducting a wide-ranging effort to explore methods of generating electrical power for spacecraft. One method employed a large parabolic mirror to concentrate the sun’s energy. The mirror had to remain rigid and withstand micrometeoroids, but remain light and compact enough to be easily launched. In 1963 Bernatowicz and his researchers undertook a program to design a solar mirror to work with the Brayton cycle system on a space station. The mirror in this photograph was prepared for a conference on Advanced Technology in Space Power Systems held at Lewis in late August 1966. Lewis experts discussed advances with batteries, fuel cells, isotope and thermoelectric generators, and the SNAP-8 space power system. Lewis was developing several types of solar mirrors to work with a Brayton cycle electric generating system. The mirror’s 12 sections were shaped using a unique forming process developed at Lewis, coated with an epoxy, and plated with aluminum. The mirror concentrated the Sun's rays on a heat storage receiver containing lithium fluoride. This material was heated to produce power in a turbogenerator system, while additional heat was stored for use when the unit was in the Earth's shadow.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- A group from the first graduating class of astronauts after the Apollo program gathers at the Banana River viewing site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center before the launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-124 mission. In 1978 a new group of 35 astronauts was selected after nine years without new astronauts. The pilots were Daniel Brandenstein, Michael Coats, Richard Covey, John Creighton, Robert Gibson, Frederick D. Gregory, Frederick Hauck, Jon McBride, Francis "Dick" Scobee, Brewster Shaw, Loren Shriver, David Walker and Donald Williams. The mission specialists were Guion Bluford, James Buchli, John Fabian, Anna Fisher, Dale Gardner, S. David Griggs, Terry Hart, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Hoffman, Shannon Lucid, Ronald McNair, Richard Mullane, Steven Nagel, George Nelson, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon, Robert Stewart, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Norman Thagard and James van Hoften. Since then, a new group has been selected roughly every two years. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

S78-26481 (January 1978) --- This is a montage of the individual portraits of the 35-member 1978 class of astronaut candidates. From left to right are Guion S. Bluford, Daniel C. Brandenstein, James F. Buchli, Michael L. Coats, Richard O. Covey, John O. Creighton, John M. Fabian, Anna L. Fisher, Dale A. Gardner, Robert L. Gibson, Frederick D. Gregory, S. David Griggs, Terry J. Hart, Frederick H. (Rick) Hauck, Steven A. Hawley, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Shannon W. Lucid, Jon A. McBride, Ronald E. McNair, Richard M. (Mike) Mullane, Steven R. Nagel, George D. Nelson, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Sally K. Ride, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Rhea Seddon, Brewster H. Shaw Jr., Loren J. Shriver, Robert L. Stewart, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Norman E. Thagard, James D. Van Hoften, David M. Walker and Donald E. Williams. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Brewster Shaw is a former astronaut from the first graduating class of astronauts after the Apollo program. He and others from the class were guests at NASA's Kennedy Space Center for the launch of space shuttle Discovery on its STS-124 mission. Shaw is Vice President and General Manager, Space Exploration, for Integrated Defense Systems, The Boeing Company. In 1978 a new group of 35 astronauts was selected after nine years without new astronauts. The pilots were Daniel Brandenstein, Michael Coats, Richard Covey, John Creighton, Robert Gibson, Frederick D. Gregory, Frederick Hauck, Jon McBride, Francis "Dick" Scobee, Brewster Shaw, Loren Shriver, David Walker and Donald Williams. The mission specialists were Guion Bluford, James Buchli, John Fabian, Anna Fisher, Dale Gardner, S. David Griggs, Terry Hart, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Hoffman, Shannon Lucid, Ronald McNair, Richard Mullane, Steven Nagel, George Nelson, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon, Robert Stewart, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Norman Thagard and James van Hoften. Since then, a new group has been selected roughly every two years. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- All eyes look skyward as space shuttle Discovery launches on its STS-124 mission. The group gathered here at the Banana River viewing site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center are members of the first graduating class of astronauts after the Apollo program. In 1978 a new group of 35 astronauts was selected after nine years without new astronauts. The pilots were Daniel Brandenstein, Michael Coats, Richard Covey, John Creighton, Robert Gibson, Frederick D. Gregory, Frederick Hauck, Jon McBride, Francis "Dick" Scobee, Brewster Shaw, Loren Shriver, David Walker and Donald Williams. The mission specialists were Guion Bluford, James Buchli, John Fabian, Anna Fisher, Dale Gardner, S. David Griggs, Terry Hart, Steven Hawley, Jeffrey Hoffman, Shannon Lucid, Ronald McNair, Richard Mullane, Steven Nagel, George Nelson, Ellison Onizuka, Judith Resnik, Sally Ride, Rhea Seddon, Robert Stewart, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Norman Thagard and James van Hoften. Since then, a new group has been selected roughly every two years. Photo credit: NASA/Jim Grossmann

S78-26569 (31 Jan. 1978) --- The 35 new astronaut candidates, presented Jan. 31, 1978, in the Building 2 auditorium at NASA's Johnson Space Center, pose for photographers. They are arranged in alphabetical order with top left as beginning point and bottom right as stopping point. They are Guion S. Bluford, Daniel C. Brandenstein, James F. Buchli, Michael L. Coats, Richard O. Covey, John O. Creighton, John M. Fabian, Anna L. Fisher, Dale A. Gardner, Robert L. Gibson, Frederick D. Gregory, S. David Griggs, Terry J. Hart, Frederick H. (Rick) Hauck, Steven A. Hawley, Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Shannon W. Lucid, Jon A. McBride, Ronald E. McNair, Richard M. (Mike) Mullane, Steven R. Nagel, George D. Nelson, Ellison S. Onizuka, Judith A. Resnik, Sally K. Ride, Francis R. (Dick) Scobee, Rhea Seddon, Brewster H. Shaw Jr., Loren J. Shriver, Robert L. Stewart, Kathryn D. Sullivan, Norman E. Thagard, James D. van Hoften, David M. Walker and Donald E. Williams. Photo credit: NASA or National Aeronautics and Space Administration