NASA Astronaut Group 15
1994 human spaceflight selection of 23 candidates; "The Flying Escargot" / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NASA Astronaut Group 15 ("The Flying Escargot") was a group of 23 NASA astronauts announced on December 8, 1994.[1][2] Group members adopted The Flying Escargot as their moniker, in reference to two members of the group being from France.[3] The group featured ten pilots, nine mission specialists, and four international mission specialist trainees from France,[4][5][6] Canada[7] and Japan.[7]
Three members of this group, Rick Husband, Michael P. Anderson, and Kalpana Chawla, died in the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster.[8] These three received the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.[9][10][11]
Another member of the group Pamela Melroy, currently serves as Deputy Administrator of NASA, taking office on June 21, 2021, having been appointed by US President Joe Biden.[12]