NASA Names Crew Members For Shuttle Return To Flight Mission

Allard Beutel
Headquarters, Washington November 7, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-4769/1202)

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

RELEASE: 03-360

NASA NAMES CREW MEMBERS FOR SHUTTLE RETURN TO FLIGHT MISSION

The STS-114 crew, augmented by three new members, is in
place for the Space Shuttle's Return to Flight mission.
Three Mission Specialists have been added to the four
astronauts already in training for the STS-114 mission
planned for launch no earlier than September 2004.

The new crewmembers, Andrew Thomas (Ph.D.), Wendy Lawrence
(Capt., USN) and Charles Camarda (Ph.D.) join mission
commander Eileen Collins (Col., USAF), Pilot James Kelly
(Lt. Col., USAF), Mission Specialists Stephen Robinson
(Ph.D) and Soichi Noguchi, of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency, who were named to this flight in 2001.

"STS-114 is going to be a complex developmental test flight,
and this crew has the right set of skills and experience to
help get the Space Shuttles safely flying again," said
NASA's Associate Administrator for Space Flight William
Readdy. "STS-114 was always slated to have a crew of seven.
But now, instead of three crew rotating on-and-off the
International Space Station, all crew members will be
dedicated to the STS-114 mission objectives," Readdy said.

The major mission objectives of the STS-114 flight have
shifted from International Space Station logistics and crew
rotation to testing and evaluating new procedures for flight
safety. This includes Shuttle inspection and repair
techniques. It also includes a smaller set of Space Station
tasks from what was scheduled before the Shuttle Columbia
accident in February.

"This is a demanding mission and the addition of Andy, Wendy
and Charlie, to this already well-qualified crew, ensures
they have all the skills necessary to meet the challenge of
Return to Flight and the resumption of Space Shuttle support
of the International Space Station," said Bob Cabana,
Director of Flight Crew Operations at NASA's Johnson Space
Center.

"Andy brings a wealth of experience in all areas of
operations from his previous Shuttle flights and Mir space
station mission. Wendy is a superb robotics operator with
detailed knowledge of all the Shuttle systems. Charlie has
been actively involved with the thermal protection system
repair activities and has trained as a backup Space Station
crewmember. He is thoroughly familiar with the systems on
board the International Space Station," Cabana said.

"When coupled with Eileen, Jim, Steve and Soichi, who were
already trained to perform the assembly tasks on this
mission, the full crew will have the expertise and crew time
to accomplish all mission objectives," Cabana said.

Collins served as pilot on STS-63 in 1995 and STS-84 in
1997. She flew as commander in 1999 on STS-93. Kelly piloted
his first mission aboard STS-102 in 2001. Robinson was on
STS-85 in 1997 and STS-95 in 1998. He served as a backup
crewmember for Expedition 4. Thomas, a long-duration Russian
Space Station Mir veteran, also served aboard STS-77 in
1996, STS-89 and 91 to and from the Mir in 1998, and STS-102
in 2001. Lawrence, another space veteran, brings experience
from STS-67 in 1995, STS-86 in 1997, and STS-91 in 1998.
Noguchi and Camarda, both selected as astronauts in 1996,
will make their first flight to space on STS-114.

For biographical information about the STS-114 crew and
other astronauts on the Internet, visit the NASA astronaut
biography page at:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/

For more information about NASA's Return to Flight efforts
on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov


-end-

...as reported on msnbc.com two weeks ago (a-HEM)...