Scenes of new astronauts first training airs on NASA TV

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington July 8, 2004
(Phone: 202/358-4769)

Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N04-102

SCENES OF NEW ASTRONAUTS' FIRST TRAINING AIRS ON NASA TV

NASA's new astronauts are getting their feet -- and just
about everything else -- wet as they begin basic training in
new video airing today on NASA Television.

Most of the astronaut candidates are in the midst of six
weeks of flight training at Pensacola Naval Air Station, Fla.
The first astronauts chosen as NASA embarks on the new Vision
for Space Exploration, their journeys began by enduring the
trials of ejection seats, water survival and altitude
chambers. Video from the first week of these activities is
featured on the NASA TV Video File this week, airing each day
at noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. EDT.

NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-
Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is
3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural
at 6.80 MHz.

Still imagery of the training activities is available on the
Internet at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...ndthescenes/tr
aining/ascan2004/ndxpage1.htm

The astronaut candidates at Pensacola include eight of the
NASA candidates named on May 6 and three Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronauts. Among the NASA
candidates are three new Educator Astronauts, who were school
teachers chosen from among thousands of applicants. Three
pilots among the new astronaut candidate class do not require
the basic flight training and will report to NASA for duty
next month.

Currently training in Pensacola a

-- Educator Mission Specialist Joe Acaba from Dunnellon, Fla.
-- Educator Mission Specialist Ricky Arnold, who resided in
Bucharest, Romania
-- Mission Specialist Chris Cassidy, who lived in Norfolk,
Va.
-- Mission Specialist Jose Hernandez, of Houston
-- Mission Specialist Tom Marshburn, a League City, Texas,
resident
-- Educator Mission Specialist Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger,
of Vancouver, Wash.
-- Mission Specialist Bobby Satcher, a resident of Oak Park,
Ill.
-- Mission Specialist Shannon Walker, of Houston
--JAXA Astronaut Satoshi Furukawa, a medical doctor from
Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan
--JAXA Astronaut Akihiko Hoshide, an engineer from Tokyo
--JAXA Astronaut Naoko Yamazaki, an engineer born in Chiba
Prefecture, Japan

The three pilots who report for astronaut candidate duty in
August a

-- Pilot Randolph J. Bresnik from Fort Knox, Ky.
-- Pilot James P. Dutton, a resident of Edwards, Calif.
-- Mission Specialist Robert S. Kimbrough, a League City,
Texas, resident

Full biographies of the astronaut candidates are available on
the Internet at:

http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/gallery/...ndthescenes/tr
aining/ascan2004/ndxpage1.html


More information on the Japanese astronauts is available from
JAXA at:

http://iss.sfo.jaxa.jp/astro/profile_e.html

For more on NASA, visit the Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov

For more information about NASA TV visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.info