(left to right:)
Captain Ulysses Van Hundsbak, USAF (USA), Dr. Claire Saint-Jacques (CAN), Angus Slernotzki, tourist (NZ/USA), Lieutenant Fjodor Evgenewitsch “Fogo” Golenko (RUS)
Hi-res group images:
Landscape format 4:3 (300 dpi, .png, 12 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Portrait format (300 dpi, .png, 7 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Square format (300 dpi, .png, 9 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Captain Ulysses Van Hundsbak
Hi-res image: portrait format (300 dpi, .png, 10 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Captain Ulysses Van Hundsbak was born on August 25, 1963 in Amarillo, Texas. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Baylor University in 1987, and a Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Fresno State University in 1990.
After graduating from Baylor University, Van Hundsbak was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. He completed pilot training at Vance Air Force Base (AFB) in Oklahoma, where he also won a prestigious BBQ Championship.
In December 1991, Van Hundsbak was assigned to Edwards Air Force Base in California, where he attended the USAF Test Pilot School. Upon finishing test pilot school, Van Hundsbak served as test pilot for various experimental aircraft (including the infamous “Nutcracker”) as well as for all models of the F-18.
His wife Delilah details her Christian life with Ulysses and his struggles to fulfill his lifelong dream of becoming an astronaut in the 2004 book “Spacemen Only Break for Jesus.”
The Van Hundsbaks have two children: daughter Affection and son Obediah.
Van Hundsbak was selected as an astronaut candidate by NASA in December 2004. He reported to the Johnson Space Center in March 2005 to begin a year of training and evaluation.
Hobbies: American football, Masters of the Universe.
Mission: In October 2009 he was assigned to mission STS-133. He is the commanding officer of the ISS in 2011.
Lieutenant Fjodor Evgenewitsch “Fogo” Golenko
Hi-res image: portrait format (300 dpi, .png, 11 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Lieutenant Fjodor Evgenewitsch “Fogo” Golenko (born 3 January 1974 in Leningrad, USSR) is a Russian cosmonaut.
He is the eldest son of Evgeni Nikolajewitsch Golenko and Tatjana Vasilevna Golenkova. After completing secondary school in St. Petersburg, Golenko began his studies at the Moscow Aviation Institute. He obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering and is specialized in spacecraft.
In August 2006, Golenko enrolled as a candidate for the cosmonaut section of RKK Energiya. From January 2007 to November 2008 he completed basic training and passed the test cosmonaut examination. He began training for the test cosmonaut group of the ISS program in January 2009.
Hobbies: During his studies he was the co-operator of a Moscow club frequented by the industrial culture scene. There were rumors in the Russian press that he was an active member of the Zelenograd BDSM scene, and that he has appeared in an amateur porn film under the pseudonym Vlad.
Mission: In October 2009, the ISS crews for expeditions 27 to 31 were reorganized on account of the resignation of a team member due to mental problems. Thus Golenko was nominated as the ISS flight engineer of expeditions 29 and 30. He became the commander of the spaceship Sojus TMA-19 and worked on the ISS for one year.
Dr. Claire Saint-Jacques
Hi-res image: portrait format 3:4 (300 dpi, .png, 9 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Dr. Claire Saint-Jacques (born 6 January 1975, Paris) is a Canadian astronaut.
In 1985, she and her family moved to Saint-Lambert, a Montreal suburb. She speaks fluent English, French and Russian.
Saint-Jacques studied Engineering Physics at the École Polytechnique Montréal. In 2003 she received her doctorate in astrophysics from Cambridge University after writing extensive studies on the William Herschel Telescope on the Canary Islands. Additionally, she obtained an MD from the University of Laval.
Before being selected for the Canadian astronaut cadre, she worked as a physician at an Inuit settlement clinic in the Province of Quebec. She also served as Assistant Professor at McGill University.
She is not married. Her relationship with the semipro tennis player Marc Behrens broke up in 2010, and it appears that she has not yet fully overcome the incidents leading to the split.
Hobbies: biking, climbing, sailing, CDs with whale songs
Mission: On 13 May 2010, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) nominated her as a member of the fifth Canadian astronaut group in her cadre. She completed training as a mission specialist together with American colleagues at Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Angus Slernotzki
Hi-res image: portrait format (300 dpi, .png, 9 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Angus Slernotzki (born 18 October 1973 in Otorohanga, New Zealand) is a New Zealand-American video game developer, who with Jesse O’Falk is considered the co-father of the first-person shooter genre. He is one of the founders of EgoManic Software.
Slernotzki and O’Falk met through game designing for Heartdisk, a computer magazine that appears on diskette. Together they developed games for Heartdisk, and with “SLURP-U” they start the enterprise EgoManic Software Inc., which made its name and achieved cult status with “AntiGerman 3D,” “Dorm” and “Quaker” (parts 1–3). Today the company is considered the founder of the widely popular first-person shooter genre.
After the publication of “Quaker 3,” Slernotzki founded the firm Iron Storm for the purpose of developing the first-person shooter game “CortexCrusher.” The ambitious project was propelled by extensive marketing hype, but the development of the game itself proved problematic. After almost a decade of production work it capsized disastrously. Nevertheless, Slernotzki is the richest game developer in the world.
Hobbies: chess-boxing, miniature steam engines
Mission: On 4 June 2010, the company Space Adventures announced that Slernotzki would fly as a space tourist to the International Space Station (ISS). Slernotzki’s press release refers to this flight as a “Poetic Social Mission.” He is allegedly using the flight into outer space as a means of promoting humanitarian projects. However, the multimillionaire states that “living out his childhood dream” is his main reason for wanting to live in outer space. In the history of its operation, the ISS has, in fact, hosted seven tourists, who have paid horrendous sums of money to fly to the ISS and spend several days there. Angus Slernotzki is, however, the first who can afford to stay in outer space for an entire year. In part, this development has come about as a result of the world financial crisis and the necessity of generating third-party funds to ensure the continuation of the ISS project.
(left to right:)
Dr. Mordecai Finkelstein (IL), Dipl.-Ing. Bodo Holtzmann (GER), Dr. Reto Blücher (CH)
Hi-res group image:
landscape format 4:3 (300 dpi, .png, 14 mb; photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom)
Dipl.-Ing. Bodo Holtzmann
Dipl.-Ing. Bodo Holtzmann
Dipl.-Ing. Bodo Holtzmann (born 18 July 1979 in Braunschweig) has since 1 March 2003 worked at the European Space Operations Centre, the European ground control center in Darmstadt, Germany.
Due to an eye defect, Holtzmann was unable to pursue his ambition of becoming a pilot in the German Air Force, and thus he has devoted his life to space travel technology and communication.
Holtzmann studied electrical engineering at the Technischen Hochschule Braunschweig and at the Technische Universität Darmstadt. Until 2002 he worked for the engineering firm König and Heunisch in Frankfurt, primarily in model construction.
Hobbies: Star Trek fan (especially “Deep Space 9”), enjoys Life Action Role Playing with his brother Kalle, is a professing Donaldist.
Mission: Holtzmann maintains continual contact with the ISS crew and manages the mission from the ground. He is also in continual contact with ISS Project Director Lyndon Peltzer in Washington DC.
Dr. Reto Blücher
Reto Blücher (born March 21, 1959 in Kastanienbaum, Canton Lucerne, Switzerland). He completed his doctorate in meteorology at ETH Zurich. After ten years working for Skyguide in Dübendorf (Wangen-Brüttisellen), he switched to the ESA, where he works as a communications specialist at the ESOC.
Hobbies: electronics, James Bond, Peter Gabriel
Mission: tracking and telemetry
Dr. Mordecai Finkelstein
Mordecai Finkelstein (born August 25, 1978 in Tel Aviv) is a medical doctor specializing in psychology. He completed his Ph.D. in psychology in Haifa. Although he commenced fighter pilot training, he was forced to leave the program on account of health deficiencies. In Austria he worked as a consultant at the ASA (Austrian Space Agency). Later he switched to DLR (German Research Center for Aeronautics and Space), from which he has been assigned to the ESOC.
Hobbies: Dutch football and medieval history
Mission: medical supervisor
+++
Photo credits: eSeL.at, monochrom