HOUSTON – NASA has updated assignments for International Space Station expedition crews. The updates reflect changes in the launch schedule for space shuttle missions that will transport rotating crew members.

Astronaut Garrett E. Reisman, a member of the Expedition 16 and 17 crews, now is scheduled to return to Earth on the STS-124 shuttle mission, which is targeted to launch April 24, 2008. He originally was slated to return on STS-126. As planned, Reisman will fly to the station on STS-123, which is targeted to launch in March. He is a native of New Jersey and has a doctorate in mechanical engineering from the California Institute of Technology.

Astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff is scheduled to fly to the station as a mission specialist on STS-124. He will take Reisman’s place as an Expedition 17 flight engineer and return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-126, which is targeted to launch Sept. 18, 2008. Chamitoff, who was born in Montreal, Canada, grew up in San Jose, Calif. He has a doctorate in aeronautics and astronautics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Astronaut Sandra H. Magnus will fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Chamitoff. Magnus, a native of Illinois with a doctorate in material science and engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, will serve as a flight engineer and NASA science officer for part of Expedition 17 and part of Expedition 18. Magnus will return to Earth on shuttle mission STS-119 in the fall of 2008.

Astronaut Koichi Wakata will launch on STS-119 and become the first resident station crew member from the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, replacing Magnus on Expedition 18. Wakata will serve as a flight engineer on Expedition 18 and return on STS-127.

Backup crew assignments also have been updated. They are included in the following International Space Station crew lineup:

Expedition 16

  • Peggy Whitson, NASA astronaut
  • Yuri Malenchenko, Russian cosmonaut
  • Daniel Tani, NASA astronaut
  • Leopold Eyharts, European Space Agency astronaut Garrett Reisman, NASA astronaut (Backup: Timothy Kopra)

Expedition 17

  • Sergei Volkov, Russian cosmonaut (Backup: Maxim Suraev)
  • Oleg Kononenko, Russian cosmonaut (Backup: Oleg Skripochka)
  • Gregory Chamitoff, NASA astronaut (Backup: Timothy Kopra)
  • Sandra Magnus, NASA astronaut (Backup: Nicole Stott)

Expedition 18

  • Michael Fincke, NASA astronaut (Backup: Michael Barratt)
  • Salizhan Sharipov, Russian cosmonaut (Backup: Yuri Lonchakov)
  • Koichi Wakata, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut (Backup:
  • Soichi Noguchi)

For astronaut biographical information, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios

For more information about NASA’s International Space Station Program, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station