JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-FORT SAM HOUSTON – (Oct. 31, 2022) – Possessing an object that has been to space is no easy feat. For Naval Medical Research Unit (NAMRU) San Antonio, that is now a reality.

During a presentation held at the Brooke Army Medical Center’s Putnam Auditorium, NASA Astronaut, U.S. Army Col. Andrew Morgan returned a command coin and logo sticker which he took with him during his nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).

Morgan, the first Army physician in space, launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, to the ISS aboard a Soyuz (Union) MS-13 spacecraft on July 20, 2019. He served as a flight engineer for Expedition 60, 61 and 62.



During his time aboard the space station, Morgan participated in numerous medical and technological experiments and tasks, as well as several planned high-profile space walks.

“It was an incredible personal honor to meet Col. Morgan,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Ewell Hollis, NAMRU San Antonio’s executive officer. “NAMRU San Antonio is both humbled and proud to have seen our logo so prominently displayed and carried to space on the exact day of the 50th Anniversary of the historic Apollo 11 mission.”

According to Hollis, of Nashville, Tenn., the naval medical research community continues to partner with NASA.

“The list of future astronauts from the ranks of Military Medicine will only continue to grow based on the inspiration from trailblazers such as Dr. Morgan,” Hollis said.

NAMRU San Antonio’s mission is to conduct gap driven combat casualty care, craniofacial, and directed energy research to improve survival, operational readiness, and safety of Department of Defense (DoD) personnel engaged in routine and expeditionary operations.

It is one of the leading research and development laboratories for the U.S. Navy under the DoD and is one of eight subordinate research commands in the global network of laboratories operating under the Naval Medical Research Center in Silver Spring, Md.