Endeavour Scheduled To Lift Off September 2008
NASA tells ANN the space agency has
assigned the space shuttle crew for Endeavour's STS-126 mission,
targeted for launch in September 2008. The flight will deliver
equipment to the International Space Station that will enable
larger crews to reside aboard the complex.
Veteran space flier Navy Capt. Christopher J. Ferguson will
command Endeavour. Air Force Lt. Col. Eric A. Boe will serve as the
pilot. The mission specialists are Navy Cmdr. Stephen G. Bowen,
NASA astronaut Joan E. Higginbotham, Army Lt. Col. Robert S.
Kimbrough and Navy Capt. Heidemarie M. Stefanyshyn-Piper. Boe,
Bowen and Kimbrough will be making their first spaceflight.
STS-126 will be the second spaceflight for Ferguson and
Stefanyshyn-Piper, who flew together on STS-115 in September 2006.
It also is the second flight for Higginbotham, who flew on STS-116
in December 2006.
Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold
supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, a
second treadmill, equipment for the regenerative life support
system and spare hardware.
A native of Philadelphia, Ferguson served as pilot of the
shuttle Atlantis for STS-115. He has a bachelor's degree in
mechanical engineering from Drexel University, Philadelphia, and a
master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval
Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. He was selected as an
astronaut in 1998.
Boe was born in Miami and grew up in Atlanta. He has a
bachelor's degree in astronautical engineering from the US Air
Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO and a master's degree in
electrical engineering from Georgia Tech. He was selected as an
astronaut in 2000.
Bowen was born in Cohasset, MA. He has a bachelor's degree from
the US Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD and a master's degree from
the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Bowen also was selected
as an astronaut in 2000. He was previously named to the STS-124
crew, but has been reassigned to STS-126. The change will allow
room for the STS-124 mission to rotate a space station resident,
who will be named later.
A native of Chicago, Higginbotham flew on STS-116. She has a
bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from Southern Illinois
University, Carbondale, and master's degrees in both management and
space systems from the Florida Institute of Technology, Melbourne.
She was selected as an astronaut in 1996.
Kimbrough was born in Killeen, TX and grew up in Smyrna, GA. He
has a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering from the US
Military Academy, West Point, NY and a master's degree in
operations research from Georgia Tech. He was selected as an
astronaut in 2004.
Stefanyshyn-Piper was born in St. Paul, MN. She conducted two
spacewalks on STS-115. She has a bachelor's and master's degrees in
mechanical engineering from MIT, and was selected as an astronaut
in 1996.