Carolina Astronauts & NASA Administrators

One Moonwalker – Charles Duke, Jr. (NC/SC)
Two NASA Administrators – James Webb (NC), The first African-American NASA Administrator, Charles Bolden (SC)
Two Astronauts lost aboard Challenger during the accident- Michael Smith (NC), Ron McNair (SC)
Fifteen Astronauts representing all areas of both states (9 from NC), (5 from SC)
Susan Helms, First Woman Expedition Member of the ISS
In February of 2020, North Carolinian Christina Koch broke the record for the longest time in space by a woman.
The Morehead Planetarium at UNC Chapel Hill was used to train astronauts on celestial navigation from 1959-1975. Nearly every Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, and Apollo-Soyuz astronaut received training at that facility.

Click the last name to view the official NASA biography

First Name	Last Name	Birthplace	Era	Missions
Ellen	Baker	Fayetteville, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-34, STS-50, STS-71
Charles	Bolden	Columbia, SC	Space Shuttle	STS-31, STS-61C, STS-45, STS-60, & 12th NASA Administrator
Charles	Brady	Pinehurst, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-78
Curtis	Brown	Elizabethtown, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-47, STS-66, STS-77, STS-85, STS-95, STS-103
John	Casper	Greenville, SC	Space Shuttle	STS-36, STS-54, STS-62, STS-77
Catherine	Coleman	Charleston, SC	Space Shuttle	STS-73, STS-93, Soyuz TMA-20
Frank	Culbertson	Charleston, SC	Space Shuttle	STS-38, STS-51, STS-105
Charles	D uke	Charlotte, NC	Apollo	Apollo 16, Moonwalker
Susan	Helms	Charlotte, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-54, STS-64, STS-78, STS-101, STS-102/105, First Woman Expedition Member of the ISS
Thomas	Marshburn	Statesville, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-127
William (Bill)	McArthur	Laurinburg, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-58, STS-74, STS-92
Ronald	McNair	Lake City, SC	Space Shuttle	STS-51L, Lost in the Challenger Accident
Michael	Smith	Beaufort, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-51L, Lost in the Challenger Accident
William (W.E.)	Thornton	Faision, NC	Space Shuttle	STS-8, STS-51B
James	Webb	Tally Ho, NC	Apollo	2nd NASA Administrator