KSC-04PD-0989

Abstract:  KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. -- At the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, former NASA astronaut Joe H. Engle participates in the 2004 U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame induction ceremony. He is introducing inductee Richard O. Covey, commander of the Hubble Space Telescope repair mission. Also chosen for induction in 2004 are Kathryn D. Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space; Frederick D. Gregory, the first African-American to command a space mission; Norman E. Thagard, the first American to occupy Russia's Mir space station; and the late Francis R. "Dick" Scobee, commander of the ill-fated 1986 Challenger mission. The U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame opened in 1990 to provide a place where space travelers could be remembered for their participation and accomplishments in the U.S. space program. To be eligible for induction, an individual must have been a U.S. citizen, a NASA astronaut, and out of the active astronaut corps at least five years. The five inductees join 52 previously honored astronauts from the ranks of the Gemini, Apollo, Skylab, Apollo-Soyuz, and Space Shuttle programs.