NASA Names Crew For New Space Shuttle Mission

Melissa Mathews
Headquarters, Washington December 2, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1272)

Doug Peterson
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

RELEASE: 03-385

NASA NAMES CREW FOR NEW SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION

Four NASA astronauts have been chosen to fly on the newly
created Space Shuttle mission, STS-121. It is the mission
following the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight.

Veteran astronaut Steven W. Lindsey (Col., USAF) is the
commander of STS-121. Mark E. Kelly (Cmdr., USN) is the pilot;
Carlos I. Noriega (Lt. Col., USMC, Ret.) and Michael E. Fossum
are the mission specialists. Other crewmembers will be named
later.

STS-121 was added to the flight schedule to help accommodate
the growing list of requirements originally assigned to the
Return to Flight mission. The crew will re-supply the
International Space Station with equipment and consumables.
They will also continue the testing and development of new
hardware and procedures designed to make Space Shuttle flight
safer.

The crew recently began their pre-mission training together at
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston. Initial activities focus
on general procedural training on Shuttle and Station systems,
preliminary spacewalk development and robotics training.

Lindsey is a three-time Shuttle astronaut, including
commanding the STS-104 mission in 2001. Kelly has flown in
space once, and Noriega twice. Fossum is making his first
trip.

For crew biographies visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios

For information about NASA and the human space flight program
on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

-end-

There are some issues heretofore not considered, but may find applicability
since recent events have shown the propensity of the Space Shuttle to
self-destruct occasionally.

Does the Commander have the final say-so to cancel a launch even while the
Shuttle is on the pad and counting down? Can he override mission control's
intention to launch at any time, even though mission control may be in
dispute with the Commander's determination of the ship's spaceworthiness?
Such authority would be analagous to a Captain of an airliner who has
complete authority to ground his plane if he believes it not to be
airworthy or for any other reason he deems fit.

The flight crew are active military personnel, so who has the final command
over them, civilian mission control or military commanders? Would a
Captain crew be subject to a military court martial for charges of
cowardice or disobeying orders if he took it upon himself to ground his
craft contrary to orders of the ground controllers?

What if he or a crews member decide at the last moment to disembark over
personal concerns of safety of the mission? Would he be allowed to leave
or blasted off against his will? Would he suffer any penalties for acting
out his fears?

In the case of a civilian shuttle passenger, if one should ever fly again,
would he or she be allowed to change his or her mind and get off the
spaceplane? Would the civilian passenger be liable for civil damages for
failure to fulfil the prior agreement?

If somebody would be forced to fly against his will and the Shuttle would
suffer an unfortunate and fatal accident, would his surviviors have a case
for huge damages which otherwise they would not be entitled to under the
assumed risk of ordinary conditions?

in many cases the active flight crew are not active military, but former. i
suspect the CDR can scrub the mission but NASA being a team player i can't
imagine a concerned CDR being "overriden" by NASA for a last minute safety
concern. it has never happened because there is trust on both sides,
warranted or not.

In article zJ1Ab.429541$HS4.3394254@attbi_s01, David Corsi wrote:
in many cases the active flight crew are not active military, but former. i
suspect the CDR can scrub the mission but NASA being a team player i can't
imagine a concerned CDR being "overriden" by NASA for a last minute safety
concern. it has never happened because there is trust on both sides,
warranted or not.

I supect one of the former MCC people can answer this better than I can,
but...

There's a lot of people, AIUI, who can turn round and say "We should
not launch this mission", for their field, and not be ignored. I very
much doubt that the crew don't have the "power" - de facto if not de
jure - to hold or cancel a launch attempt; they don't have the full
picture, but they have sufficient exposure to many factors to have a
good idea if some of them are dodgy.

(And, if nothing else, "Control; MS-1 just vomited in their helmet"
called two minutes before launch would probably get you a hold and
postponed launch, at least...)

--
-Andrew Gray

"Nomen Nescio" wrote in message
...
There are some issues heretofore not considered, but may find
applicability
since recent events have shown the propensity of the Space Shuttle to
self-destruct occasionally.

Does the Commander have the final say-so to cancel a launch even while the
Shuttle is on the pad and counting down?

You can search google, but I believe mission rules state that the Commander
can do anything he feels is critical to the safety of the mission, up to and
overruling Mission Control. That said, he or she had better have a darn
good reason.

Can he override mission control's
intention to launch at any time, even though mission control may be in
dispute with the Commander's determination of the ship's spaceworthiness?
Such authority would be analagous to a Captain of an airliner who has
complete authority to ground his plane if he believes it not to be
airworthy or for any other reason he deems fit.

The flight crew are active military personnel, so who has the final
command
over them, civilian mission control or military commanders?

Actually most of the flight crew are no longer active military personnel. I
don't fully understand how it works in a case like this, but I believe the
ones that are are on some sort of official detachment which I believe means
in terms of their function at NASA, they take orders from NASA.

Would a
Captain crew be subject to a military court martial for charges of
cowardice or disobeying orders if he took it upon himself to ground his
craft contrary to orders of the ground controllers?

What if he or a crews member decide at the last moment to disembark over
personal concerns of safety of the mission? Would he be allowed to leave
or blasted off against his will? Would he suffer any penalties for acting
out his fears?

If he couldn't substantiate them, he'd probably be fired.


In the case of a civilian shuttle passenger, if one should ever fly again,
would he or she be allowed to change his or her mind and get off the
spaceplane? Would the civilian passenger be liable for civil damages for
failure to fulfil the prior agreement?

If somebody would be forced to fly against his will and the Shuttle would
suffer an unfortunate and fatal accident, would his surviviors have a case
for huge damages which otherwise they would not be entitled to under the
assumed risk of ordinary conditions?

In article , Andrew Gray wrote:

not launch this mission", for their field, and not be ignored. I very
much doubt that the crew don't have the "power" - de facto if not de
jure - to hold or cancel a launch attempt; they don't have the full

A quick read through Jenkins checking launch holds/scrubs doesn't find
any explicitly attrbuted to the crew, although there's a couple which
may have involved the crew - minor pressure suit problems causing a
hold, for example. Just a footnote.

--
-Andrew Gray

From: "Greg D. Moore \(Strider\)"

Actually most of the flight crew are no longer active military personnel. I
don't fully understand how it works in a case like this, but I believe the
ones that are are on some sort of official detachment which I believe means
in terms of their function at NASA, they take orders from NASA.

Let's get our terminology straight he

Quite a large number of NASA astronauts are in fact, active-duty military
officers, and ultimately, they all take orders from the President via the chain
of command. While at NASA, they are temporarily seconded to JSC (some less
temporary than others), but remain in a service detachment from their parent
service's space command. While most tend to remain at NASA for long periods of
time, they could be called back to their service at will.

Dave