2019 Astronaut Hall of Fame Inductees

Former NASA astronauts Jim Buchli and Janet Kavandi are inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Class of 2019 during a ceremony on April 6, 2019, inside the Space Shuttle Atlantis attraction at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Florida. They unveiled their plaques, which will be placed in the Hall of Fame at the visitor complex.

Credits: NASA/Cory Huston

Veteran NASA Astronauts Inducted into US Astronaut Hall of Fame

The Astronaut Scholarship Foundation, founded over 30 years ago  by the six surviving Mercury 7 astronauts, selects the veteran astronauts for induction into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame. The Hall of Fame serves as a venue where space travelers can be remembered and honored.

James Buchli and Janet Kavandi are the most recent veteran NASA astronauts to join the ranks of the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Buchli was selected from NASA's 1978 astronaut candidate class and was a member of the space shuttle support crew for STS-1 and STS-2 in 1981. He served as on-orbit capsule communicator for STS-2. From there, he went on to become a veteran of four space flights, logging more than 20 days in space. He accomplished this by traveling 7.74 million in 319 Earth orbits.

While serving as mission specialist of those four space flights between 1985-1992, he also served as deputy chief of the Astronaut Office.

Kavandi, director of NASA's Glenn Research Center, was a member of NASA's 15th class of astronaut candidates, selected in 1994. She is a veteran of three space shuttle missions and has logged more than 33 days in space, traveling more than 13.1 million miles in 535 Earth orbits.

Kavandi supported ISS payload integration, capsule communications and robotics, and served as deputy chief of the Astronaut Office. In 2016, she became the director of Glenn.

"The pioneering spirit we see in every astronaut is truly exemplified by this year's inductees," said Jim Bridenstine, NASA Administrator. "Janet Kavandi and James Buchli represent the best of America's astronauts, and I congratulate them for achieving this prestigious honor. Each has contributed greatly to the NASA mission, and their efforts have helped lay the groundwork for where we are today--including Janet's leadership directing Glenn's Moon to Mars work--as we chart a course for a return of American astronauts to the lunar surface in five years, and eventually on to Mars."