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:
