John Blaha

JOHN BLAHA

John Blaha, a veteran of five space shuttle missions, was a resident of the Russian space station from September 19, 1996 to January 14, 1997. He trained for the mission in the U.S. and Star City, Russia for more than a year.

Prior to STS-79, his shuttle ride to Mir, Blaha served as pilot of STS-29 and STS-33, and as the commander of STS-43 and STS-58. His experience as commander of STS-58 provided some early training for the Mir mission. The record duration fourteen-day space shuttle mission has been recognized by NASA management as the most successful and efficient Spacelab flight that NASA had flown. The crew performed neurovestibular, cardiovascular, cardiopulmonary, metabolic, and musculoskeletal medical experiments on themselves and 48 rats, expanding our knowledge of human and animal physiology both on earth and in space flight.