Chicago Native Makes Giant Leap to Astronaut Hall of Fame

If it’s true, as Community’s Jeff Winger says, that astronauts go to the moon to impress their high schools’ prom kings, then John Grunsfeld has not only impressed the king but also his school’s prom queen, the prom court, the entire football team, all the cheerleaders and the members of the chess and AV clubs now that he’s been named to the Astronaut Hall of Fame.

Grunsfeld, a Chicago native and Highland Park High School grad, will be inducted to the hall this spring, according to a Chicago Tribune. His astronaut achievements include the following:

• five space shuttle missions, traveling on Endeavour, Atlantis, Discover and Columbia
• eight spacewalks
• helping to repair the Hubble Space Telescope on three trips to space

In fact, all the time Grunsfeld, 56, spent in space as an astronaut is the equivalent of 58 days, the Tribune reported.

“The biggest honor is to be an astronaut,” Grunsfeld told the Tribune. “It’s such a tremendous privilege to be able to represent humankind in our quest to explore space.”

>>Read a full interview with Grunsfeld at the Chicago Tribune