One of ASF’s most exciting and successful fundraising events of the year is the annual U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame Induction Gala, a grand dinner banquet honoring that year’s class of U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame (AHOF) inductees. ASF’s Induction Selection Committee arranges the selection of new inductees into the AHOF each year, and ASF works hand-in-hand with Delaware North Companies (DNC) to honor those astronauts with the gala and an official induction ceremony held at Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex (KSCVC) the next day. This year, Curt Brown, Eileen Collins, and Bonnie Dunbar were the astronauts elected to be admitted into this elite group. Brown flew on six missions and was commander of Discovery when Senator John Glenn returned to space on STS-95; Collins flew three missions beginning with Discovery as the first female space shuttle pilot on STS-63, this was also the first flight of a new joint Russian-American Space Program, and continued to make history on STS-93 as the first female space shuttle commander; and Dunbar, a veteran of five flights, served as a mission specialist on Atlantis for STS-71, the first space shuttle mission to dock with the Russian space station Mir.

Festivities kicked off on the evening of Friday, April 19 with a VIP reception at the AHOF for the astronauts and top-tier ticket-holders. Guests got a first glimpse at the likenesses of the three astronauts that would make their home there from now on.

From there, the celebration moved to KSCVC’s impressive Apollo/Saturn V Center, the site of the evening’s grand gala. Nearly 30 astronauts entered via red carpet before taking their seats and joining the guests for dinner. The night’s program included a video presentation introducing the inductees, an exciting live auction, and a keynote address by Astronaut Scholar Daniel Araya.

The morning of Saturday, April 20, astronauts, scholars, and patrons joined together at the annual Scholar Technical Conference. The conference provides Astronaut Scholars a venue to present their research, field questions, and network. Attending one of these fascinating conferences, one truly gets a sense of how exceptional our scholars are.

The Induction celebrations continued Saturday afternoon at the official Induction ceremony, held on-site at KSCVC. Each newly-inducted astronaut was welcomed into the Hall of Fame before an audience of their peers. This ceremony is open to the public and gives KSC visitors the chance to see these astronaut legends and hear their stories, as well as learn about the ASF.

Upon receiving her medal, Dunbar said, “There’s probably no other event that would be so special than to be recognized by [our] peers. [I’m] humbled, but very honored.”