1992 Astronaut Class (Group 14)

In August 1992 five international astronaut candidates joined the 19 Americans to form the 24 member 1992 astronaut class.

The People

The 19 American members of the 1992 Astronaut Class are:

Daniel T. Barry, Charles E. Brady, Catherine G. Coleman, Michael L. Gernhardt, John M. Grunsfeld, Scott J. Horowitz, Brent W. Jett, Kevin R. Kregel, Wendy B. Lawrence, Jerry M. Linenger, Richard M. Linnehan, Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Scott E. Parazynski, Kent V. Rominger, Winston E. Scott, Steven L. Smith, Joseph R. Tanner, Andrew S. W. Thomas, Mary E. Weber.

The International Candidates are:

Maurizio Cheli (ESA Italy), Jean-Francois Clervoy (ESA France), Marc Garneau CSA), Chris Hadfield (CSA) and Koichi Wakata (NASDA).

The Artwork

As its central motif, the class emblem depicts the astronaut star and logo as designed by the original seven astronauts. This is shown in silver to symbolize the silver pin that the class members receive upon completion of their training. The border of the patch is composed of 24 gold stars, one for each member of the class. The flags of their countries of origin are also shown. The "XIV" signifies that this is the fourteenth astronaut group selected by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the "92" signifies that this is the class of 1992. These combine into 1492, the year of the first European voyage to the new world. A sailing vessel and the Space Shuttle, connected by a crescent plume, symbolize and commemorate 500 years of exploration.

Spot the patch !!!

The right photo shows astronaut Scott Horowitz getting ready in the KSC Crew Quarters for the launch of STS-101 on 19 May, 2000.
The 1992 patch spotted prior to STS-101

Source / Availability

The remake of this patch was done by Randy and Mary Wagner at Cargo Bay Emblems in Virginia, where it is still available. It differs slightly from the original, which has smaller gold stars. Also, the orbiter is not outlined in white thread.

We've never seen an original for sale.

A Personal Story

Astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria telling about astronaut training:

Michael, perhaps you can discuss your experience in becoming an astronaut. What was that like for you?

I first decided to try to become an astronaut in 1983, when I was 25. At that time I was a Navy pilot on my way to my first operational squadron. I was reading a magazine article about the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School. A sidebar talked about graduates of USNTPS who had gone on to become astronauts (Shephard, Glenn, Schirra, Young, Armstrong, Hauck - it's a long list). That inspired me. From that point, I just kept doing what I enjoyed, and doing what I needed to do to become qualified to apply to NASA (luckily, they were often the same thing!) - I went to test pilot school, graduate school to get an MS in Aeronautical Engineering, and became a test pilot and program manager. From that point, it was a matter of applying to NASA and keeping my fingers crossed. I was interviewed after my first application, but not selected. The second time was the charm for me; and I started training in August 92. No regrets!