NASA has finalized crew assignments for two space shuttle missions targeted for launch in 2007 to continue assembly of the International Space Station.
Astronaut John D. Olivas will join the crew of shuttle mission STS-117. Astronaut Tracy Caldwell will join the crew of shuttle mission STS-118. Olivas and Caldwell will be making their first space flights.
Astronaut Richard A. Mastracchio, previously assigned to STS-117, has been reassigned to STS-118. Veteran shuttle flier and spacewalker Scott Parazynski, previously assigned to STS-118, has left that crew to prepare for assignment to another mission.
With the changes, the STS-117 crew is commanded by Marine Lt. Col. Frederick W. Sturckow. The mission’s pilot is Air Force Col. Lee J. Archambault and the mission specialists are James F. Reilly II, retired Army Col. Patrick G. Forrester, Joan E. Higginbotham, Steven R. Swanson, and Olivas. STS-117 will deliver the second starboard truss segment to the space station with the third set of U.S. solar arrays, batteries and associated equipment.
STS-118 will be commanded by Navy Cmdr. Scott J. Kelly. The pilot will be Marine Lt. Col. Charles O. Hobaugh. The mission specialists are Canadian Space Agency astronaut Dr. Dafydd R. Williams, educator astronaut Barbara R. Morgan, Mastracchio and Caldwell. STS-118 will deliver to the station the third starboard truss segment; an external stowage platform; and logistics and supplies in a SPACEHAB single cargo module.
Olivas was born in North Hollywood, Calif., and raised in El Paso, Texas. He received a bachelor’s from the University of Texas-El Paso, a master’s from the University of Houston and a doctorate in mechanical engineering from Rice University, Houston. Upon completing his doctorate, Olivas worked as a senior research engineer at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. He was selected as an astronaut in 1998.
Caldwell was born in Arcadia, Calif. She received a bachelor’s from California State University in Fullerton and a doctorate in physical chemistry from the University of California at Davis. She was selected as an astronaut in 1998. Her assignments have included spacecraft communicator in mission control, shuttle flight software verification and support of shuttle launch and landing operations.
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