AFIT Alum Inducted into the  Astronaut Hall of Fame

The 2015 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame inductees: Kent Rominger, Rhea Seddon, Steve Lindsey and John Grunsfeld. (Photo from Yahoo.com)

AFIT alum, Colonel Steven W. Lindsey, USAF, Retired (M.S. Aeronautical Engineering, 1990) was inducted into the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame on 30 May 2015. 

Below is an excerpt from an article on Yahoo.com:
'"I keep thinking I don't belong here," said Lindsey, who as commander led the final flight of space shuttle Discovery. "Because I look out in the audience of the astronauts who are here and I see so many who mentored me. Several of you taught me how to fly the shuttle, taught me how to command a crew, taught me so much, and just being with you is a humbling experience for me."   This was at least the second time that Lindsey has been counted among the pioneering astronauts. In 1998, he was Discovery's pilot for the flight that returned John Glenn to space.  "Just think," said Mike Coats, Discovery's first pilot and a member of the Hall of Fame since 2007, "someday, Steve will proudly tell his grandchildren that he flew with the first American to go into orbit. And they'll look at him and think their grandfather must be really, really old."'

The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame, operated as part of the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex in Titusville, Florida, now honors 91 American astronauts and features the world's largest collection of their personal memorabilia.

Selected by NASA in March 1995, Lindsey became an astronaut in May 1996, and qualified for flight assignment as a pilot.  A veteran of four space flights, Lindsey has logged more than 1,510 hours in space. He served as pilot on STS-87 in 1997 and STS-95 in 1998 and was the mission commander on STS-104 in 2001, STS-121 in 2006 and STS-133 in 2011.

Lindsey will join 7 other AFIT alumni who are U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Inductees:

• Colonel Edwin " Buzz" Aldrin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Ph.D. 1963, Distinguished Alumni 1983
• William A. Anders (Major General, USAF Reserve, Ret.), M.S. Nuclear Engineering, 1962, Distinguished Alumni 1990
• Dr. Guion S. Bluford, Jr. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.) Ph.D. Aerospace Engineering, 1978, M.S. Aerospace Engineering, 1974, with distinction, Distinguished Alumni 2002
• Roger B. Chaffee (Lieutenant Commander, USN) M.S. Reliability Engineering (Left AFIT in October 1963 when he was selected by NASA as one of the third group of astronauts)
• Leroy Gordon Cooper, Jr. (Colonel, USAF, Ret.), B.S. Aeronautical Engineering, 1956
• Donn F. Eisele (Colonel, USAF, Ret.), M.S. Astronautics, 1960
• Virgil I. Grissom (Lieutenant Colonel, USAF), B.S. Engineering Sciences, 1956