Heroes who reached for the stars

New Jersey may not have a lot of space, but many of our residents have traveled to space. There are many astronauts who come from New Jersey, twelve to be exact.

It is the dream of so many growing children. The thought of being an astronaut and traveling into space is amazing.

Many astronauts had New Jersey ties

There are many New Jersey residents who have turned this dream into a lifelong passion and incredible career.

According to NJ Spotlight News. Here are the astronauts from New Jersey.

Buzz Aldrin. Yes, a New Jersey man became the second person to walk on the moon, many years before he hit the dance floor on Dancing With The Stars. Aldrin (Glen Ridge) made history on July 21, 1969.

Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan. She was the first woman to walk in space. She was born in Paterson.

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Wally Schirrafrom Hackensack, was the first astronaut to fly three times. He was on Apollo 7, Gemini 6A and Mercury 8.

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Here are the other astronauts from New Jersey in no apparent order. There is Kenneth Ham of Plainfield, Gregory Linteras of Englewood, William Pailes of Hackensack and Mary Polansky of Paterson.

Also on the list of New Jersey astronauts are Scott Kelly of Orange, George Zamka of Jersey City and Garrett Reisman of Morristown.

Rounding out the 12 New Jersey astronauts are Rusty Schweickart of Neptune and Mark Kelly of Orange.

It is such a proud feeling to know that the people of New Jersey have had such a huge impact on America’s space program.

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