Ceremony to honor astronaut, aviators with LI ties

Space Shuttle astronaut Bill Shepherd from Babylon Village, Gen. Jimmy Doolittle and aviator Harriet Quimby will be inducted Monday into the Long Island Air & Space Hall of Fame at the Cradle of Aviation Museum.

Shepherd and a granddaughter of Doolittle, Jonna Doolittle Hoppes, will be at the fourth annual ceremony to honor those who have distinguished themselves in aeronautical and technological achievement.

Shepherd was the first commander of the International Space Station. Doolittle, who won the Medal of Honor in 1942 for leading the first bombing raid over Japan in World War II, spent many years at Mitchel Field. Quimby, the first female licensed pilot in the United States, learned to fly in Mineola.

Raised in Babylon, Shepherd attended the U.S. Naval Academy and became a Navy SEAL in the 1970s. Selected as an astronaut in 1984, he was a mission specialist on three shuttle flights in 1988, 1990 and 1992. He was the first commander of the International Space Station in 2000-2001 and has logged over 159 days in space. He was awarded the Congressional Space Medal of Honor in 2003 and is now a civilian engineer with the Naval Special Warfare Command.

The noon ceremony will be followed by a luncheon for which $75 tickets are still available. Call 516-572-4066 to reserve a spot.