The Final Frontier

Earth rise over the moon as seen and, photographed by the astronauts of Apollo 11 (NASA photo)
Aviation Pioneers and Space Explorers

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1		NASA spacecraft comparison. Since this tree contains Mercury, Atlas and, Apollo astronauts a size comparison of their space craft seems appropriate.
2		Eugene Wesley Roddenberry He created a simple television show. That said the influence his simple show and the legacy franchise has had on scientist and, explorers is something that cannot be overstated.	Eugene Wesley Roddenberry
3		Doctor Robert Hutchings Goddard He is considered "The father of modern rocketry". Through theoretical and engineering work he pioneered all of the major concepts that make rocket flight a reality.	Robert Hutchings Goddard
4		Willian Alonzo Avery William worked with Octave Chanute in the development of gliders.	William Alonzo Avery
5		Wright Brothers Aviation pioneers credited with the first powered flight.	Orville Wright Wilbur Wright
6		Samuel Langley He was an astronomer, physicist, inventor and, aviation pioneer.	Samuel Pierpont Langley
7		Amilia Earhart She was the first female aviator to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She held several world's records in aviation. During an attempt at becoming the first female to complete a circumnavigational flight of the globe her plane was lost and she was never seen again.	Amelia Mary Earhart
8		Admiral Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. In 1961 as part of project Mercury he became the first American to fly in space. A decade later as part of Apollo 14 he became the first (and so far only) person to play golf on the moon.	Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr
9		CeCe Bibby Cece was an employee for Chrysler Corporation, which was a sub contractor for NASA. She was the only woman artist in the graphics department at Cape Canaveral. Her claim to fame came when Astronaut John Glenn recruited her to paint the Friendship 7 logo on his space capsule. She went on to paint the logos for Scott Carpenter's "Aurora 7" and Wally Schirra's "Sigma 7" capsules. To do her job, Bibby became the first and only woman to ascend the Mercury launch gantry and go inside the "white room" that surrounded the vehicle.	Cecilia Rose Bibby
10		Scott Carpenter He was the fourth American in space as pilot of the Mercury-Atlas 7 mission.	Malcolm Scott Carpenter
11		John Barron McKay He was a NASA test pilot who became an astronaut September 28, 1965 when he went outside of the confines of the earth's atmosphere in the X-15 rocket plane. Military pilots who did this earned their astronaut wings immediately. Unfortunately they had not developed the process to award the civilian pilots their wings. John was awarded his wings posthumously in 2005.	John Barron McKay
12		Charles Bassett He was scheduled as the pilot of the Gemini IX-A mission. Tragically he was killed in a training accident.	Charles Arthur Bassett, II
13		Colonel Edwin Eugene "Buzz" Aldrin, Jr. In 1966 he took part in the last of the Gemini missions and became the first astronaut to successfully work outside of the spacecraft for an extended period of time. In 1969 he became the second man to set foot on the moon.	Edwin Eugene Aldrin, Jr
14		Roger Chaffee. Roger was selected to be the communication expert for the first Apollo mission. At the time, he was 31 years old and the youngest American astronaut to be selected for a mission. Tragically on January 27, 1967 the crew was participating in a test when a fire broke out in the capsule killing all three men.	Roger Bruce Chaffee
15		Alfred Merrill "Al" Worden In 1971 he was the command module pilot for Apollo 15. He holds two world's records that are still standing as of 2020 His lunar orbit at one point had him 2,235 away from the rest of the Apollo crew on the moon. The Guinness Book Of World records" declared him to be the "most isolated human being". On the return trip he performed an extravehicular activity (EVA), or spacewalk, to retrieve film cassettes from cameras on the exterior of the spacecraft. It was considered the first "deep space" EVA in history, it took place 196,000 miles from Earth. By comparison the astronauts working outside the international space station are at a maximum of 255 miles away.	Alfred Merrill Worden
16		Vance D Brand Vance D Brand - Part of the 5th group of astronaut trainees selected in 1966. He commanded the Apollo-Soyuz mission and three shuttle missions.	Vance Devoe Brand
17		Donald Kent "Deke" Slayton One of the first astronauts trainees to be selected. He had to wait until 1975 but he finally got to space as part of the Apollo-Soyuz mission.	Donald Kent Slayton
18		Robert Crippen He was the very first space shuttle pilot and a veteran of four shuttle missions.	Robert Laurel Crippen
19		Brewster Shaw A veteran of three shuttle flights. After he retired he became the Vice President & General Manager of the Space Exploration Division at the Boeing Company.	Brewster Hopkinson Shaw, Jr
20		Steven R. Nagel Steven is a veteran of four space shuttle missions. In 1995 he retired from the astronaut program and became the Deputy Director for the Operations Development, Safety, Reliability, and Quality Assurance Office at the Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas.	Steven Ray Nagel
21		Linda M. Godwin Linda is a veteran of four space shuttle flights. After they had both retired from the astronaut program she married astronaut Steven Nagel.	Linda Maxine Godwin
22		Story Musgrave In 1996 he became only the second astronaut to fly on six spaceflights, and is the only astronaut to fly on all five space shuttles. In 1993, he was part of the crew that repaired the Hubble Telescope.	Franklin Story Musgrave
23		Charles Lacy Veach. He was a combat fighter pilot awarded the Purple Heart. He was on two shuttle missions including STS-52 which in addition to it's scientific missions carried part of Gene Roddenberry's ashes into space.	Charles Lacy Veach
24		Christa McAuliffe She was selected as a payload specialist as part of the Teacher in Space Project. On January 28, 1986 she was lost with the rest of the crew in the Challenger disaster.	Sharon Christa Corrigan
25		Colonel Douglas Harry Wheelock Douglas is a veteran of one space shuttle flight and an extended stay aboard the International Space Station that he reached by flying with Russia aboard a Soyuz spacecraft.	Douglas Harry Wheelock
26		Peggy Whitson She commanded the NEEMO 5 mission aboard the Aquarius underwater laboratory. She is a veteran of 4 missions in space. She has a total of 675 days in space. That's more time in space than any woman in the world. She holds the records for the oldest woman spacewalker and the most spacewalks by a woman. She spent 60 hours, 21 minutes outside a spacecraft. This places her in fifth place for total EVA time. In 2023 she became the oldest woman to orbit the Earth at the age of 63.	Peggy Whitson
27		William Shatner On October 13, 2021 William Shatner at the age of 90 became the oldest person to visit space getting there by the privately owned Blue Origin spacecraft the "New Shepard".	William Shatner