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Space Shuttle Astronauts Ready to Fly
2008-11-13
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - Seven NASA astronauts are spending what they hope will be their last day on Earth before launching toward the International Space Station Friday night aboard the shuttle Endeavour. Muzi.com News 10082982-1 (muzi.com)The five-man, two-woman crew of Endeavour is a mix of spaceflight veterans and first-time flyers, but wholly committed to making vital repairs and delivering new gear to double the station's occupancy up to six people next year. Muzi.com News 10082982-2 (muzi.com) "I think every commander would like to think that he's got the best crew that was ever assembled to fly a space station mission. I'm no exception," said Endeavour commander Chris Ferguson in a NASA interview. "These folks are extremely talented, extremely hard-working." Muzi.com News 10082982-3 (muzi.com) Endeavour is slated to launch toward the space station Friday at 7:55 p.m. EST (0055 Nov. 15 GMT) on a planned 15-day mission that will span Thanksgiving and the orbital laboratory's 10th anniversary on Nov. 20. Muzi.com News 10082982-4 (muzi.com) Here's a look at Endeavour's seven-astronaut crew as they prepare for liftoff: Muzi.com News 10082982-5 (muzi.com) Taking command Muzi.com News 10082982-6 (muzi.com) Shuttle commander Chris Ferguson is making his second trip to space on Endeavour's STS-126 mission, but it's his first trip in charge. He spent 12 days in space as the pilot for shuttle Atlantis to help deliver new U.S. solar arrays to the station in 2006. Muzi.com News 10082982-7 (muzi.com) "It is so much different this time than it was the last time around," Ferguson, 47, told reporters last week. "Of course, as commander you worry a bit more." Muzi.com News 10082982-8 (muzi.com) A U.S. Navy captain, Ferguson grew up in Philadelphia, Pa., and quenched his early thirst for spaceflight by following NASA's Apollo and Skylab missions as a child. He watched the first shuttle launch in 1981 while in college and ultimately joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1998. Muzi.com News 10082982-9 (muzi.com) When he's not flying a NASA shuttle, Ferguson plays drums in the all-astronaut band Max Q, and is looking forward to seeing how the space station has changed with the addition of new solar wings and international laboratory modules since his last flight. Muzi.com News 10082982-10 (muzi.com) "I'm just thrilled to be going back there," he said. Muzi.com News 10082982-11 (muzi.com) Ferguson and his wife, Sandra, have a 16-year-old daughter and two sons, ages 14 and 12. Muzi.com News 10082982-12 (muzi.com) First-time flyer Muzi.com News 10082982-13 (muzi.com) At 44, U.S. Air Force Col. Eric Boe is making his first foray into space as Endeavour's pilot, but remembers starting on the path at age 5, when his parents sat him down in front of the television to witness history. Muzi.com News 10082982-14 (muzi.com) "Years later, I can still remember the image on the black and white TV of seeing the moon landing, and that kind of put a little nugget in my brain to think about doing that in the future," he said in a NASA interview. Muzi.com News 10082982-15 (muzi.com) Boe grew up in Atlanta and made good on that nugget in 2000, when he joined NASA's astronaut corps and he's eagerly awaiting his first impressions and sensations after reaching space. Muzi.com News 10082982-16 (muzi.com) "I've seen lots of pictures of space, but it's kind of like looking at someone's vacation through pictures when they've come back," Boe told reporters last week. "When you've taken the pictures yourself you kind of have a different perspective on what those pictures mean." Muzi.com News 10082982-17 (muzi.com) Boe and wife, Kristen, have a 10-year-old daughter and 8-year-old son. Muzi.com News 10082982-18 (muzi.com) Home, sweet, (space) home Muzi.com News 10082982-19 (muzi.com) Endeavour mission specialist Don Pettit considers Friday night's launch as a return home of sorts. After all, he's still got some stuff stashed away aboard the International Space Station from when he lived aboard the orbital laboratory for about 5 1/2 months in 2002 and 2003. Muzi.com News 10082982-20 (muzi.com) "I think of the station as sort of my home away from home," Pettit, 53 told SPACE.com last week. "So I sort of feel like I'm going back home, only it's just for a visit and not to stay." Muzi.com News 10082982-21 (muzi.com) Pettit was in space during NASA's tragic 2003 loss of the shuttle Columbia and its crew. He later landed aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which returned to Earth in a steeper than usual descent and was out of contact with recovery crews for a time. Muzi.com News 10082982-22 (muzi.com) On Endeavour's flight, Pettit will oversee the delivery of fresh cargo and a water recycling system to the station as the mission's loadmaster, as well as fly the outpost's robotic arm. Muzi.com News 10082982-23 (muzi.com) But Pettit, a chemical engineer who spent his weekends in space performing extra science or tinkering with broken equipment, also said he's hoping to seek some his old stuff, including the station's mysterious Strange Tool Bag, which he remembers fondly from his last flight. Muzi.com News 10082982-24 (muzi.com) "In this Strange Tool Bag are a couple of my favorite tools and I will be anxious to see those tools are still there," Pettit said. Muzi.com News 10082982-25 (muzi.com) Pettit grew up in Silverton, Ore., and is married to wife Micki. They have twin sons who will turn 8 on Nov. 29, when Endeavour is currently slated to land. Pettit missed the boys' 2nd birthday during his first spaceflight, and has packed some brownies in his luggage to serve as space birthday cakes for his sons when he returns. Muzi.com News 10082982-26 (muzi.com) The submariner spaceman Muzi.com News 10082982-27 (muzi.com) Navy Capt. Steve Bowen joined NASA's astronaut corps in 2000 as the first-ever submarine officer to turn spaceflyer. He's looking forward to some breathing room aboard Endeavour in space, which he'll share with just six other people as compared to the 100 or so crewmates aboard a Navy submarine. Muzi.com News 10082982-28 (muzi.com) "My wife said 'Steve will be so happy, he's never had so much room his entire life,'" Bowen, 44, said of his wife Deborah's first impressions of the shuttle's interior. Muzi.com News 10082982-29 (muzi.com) Bowen will perform three of the four spacewalks during Endeavour's flight, with most of that work aimed at cleaning and greasing up the space station's balky starboard solar array joint. He grew up in Cohasset, Mass., and has two sons, ages 17 and 12, and a 15-year-old daughter. He will make his first spaceflight during Endeavour's flight. Muzi.com News 10082982-30 (muzi.com) There're a lot of similarities between flying in a confined are with others in a spaceship and shipping out in a sealed submarine for months on end, but Bowen said he's especially interested in seeing how space food - especially on Thanksgiving - compares with the lofty reputation of his beloved submarine mess hall. Muzi.com News 10082982-31 (muzi.com) "It's one of the things the submarine force is noted for, is their food," he said. Good eats, even underwater, are good for crew morale, he added. Muzi.com News 10082982-32 (muzi.com) Spacewalk veteran Muzi.com News 10082982-33 (muzi.com) Leading Endeavour's spacewalking crew is Navy Capt. Heidemarie "Heide" Stefanyshyn-Piper, who last visited the station with Ferguson during their 2006 mission aboard Atlantis. Muzi.com News 10082982-34 (muzi.com) Stefanyshyn-Piper, 45, has two spacewalks under her belt from her last mission and will add three more during Endeavour's flight to spearhead the repair of the station's solar array joint. The St. Paul, Minn.-native initially hoped to fly aircraft for the Navy but failed the eye exam, so she took to salvage diving instead. Muzi.com News 10082982-35 (muzi.com) "I was fixing ships for the Navy, doing underwater ship repair and I thought 'You know if I could fix ships underwater, I can build a space station in space,'" Stefanyshyn-Piper said in a NASA interview. Muzi.com News 10082982-36 (muzi.com) Stefanyshyn-Piper joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1996 and is married to husband, Glenn. They have a 19-year-old son in college. Muzi.com News 10082982-37 (muzi.com) The new class Muzi.com News 10082982-38 (muzi.com) Rounding out Endeavour's spacewalking team is U.S. Army Lt. Col. Robert "Shane" Kimbrough, 41, who is the first of NASA's newest U.S. astronaut class to fly. Muzi.com News 10082982-39 (muzi.com)
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