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| Space shuttle Discovery crew members Nicole Stott, Michael Barratt, Alvin Drew, Steve Bowen, Eric Boe and Steve Lindsey (L to R) prepare to board the astronaut van for the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, the United States, Feb. 24, 2011. Space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to begin an 11-day mission to the International Space Station (ISS) with a launch at 4:50 p.m. EST (2050 GMT) on Feb. 24. (Xinhua/Qi Heng) |
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space shuttle Discovery lifted off on Thursday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to deliver a storage room to the International Space Station (ISS), on its own final scheduled flight. The following are some brief introductions to the six astronauts aboard the shuttle.
Steve Lindsey
Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Lindsey, 50, serves as commander of the STS-133 mission. In his role as commander, he has overall responsibility for the mission and will ensure that all objectives are executed safely. Lindsey has performed several technical duties that include working as the shuttle landing and rollout representative, deputy for shuttle operations, co-chairman of the space shuttle cockpit council and chief of International Space Station operations.
A veteran of four spaceflights, he has logged more than 1,203 hours in space.
Eric Boe
A 46-year-old colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Boe serves as pilot of STS-133. Selected by NASA in 2000, he completed two years of training and evaluation, then was assigned technical duties in the astronaut office advanced vehicles branch, space station operations branch and space shuttle branch.
Boe first served as a pilot on STS-126, a 15-day mission in November 2008.
Alvin Drew
In his second trip to space, Drew, 47, a retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force, serves as a mission specialist on STS-133. He was selected by NASA in 2000. After completing astronaut training, he was initially assigned technical duties in the astronaut office space station operations branch. A command pilot, he has more than 25 years of experience and has spent 3,500 hours flying 30 different types of aircraft.
Steve Bowen
The first-ever submarine officer selected by NASA, Steve Bowen, a captain in the U.S. Navy, is assigned to serve as mission specialist 2 on STS-133. Bowen has spent 34 hours and 30 minutes on spacewalks over the course of two shuttle missions -- STS-126 in November of 2008 and STS-132 in May of 2010.
Michael Barratt
Barratt, 51, serves as a mission specialist on the STS-133 crew. A board certified physician in internal and aerospace medicine, Barratt began his career in the space program as a project physician in 1991, and joined NASA as a flight surgeon in 1992. From July 1995 through July 1998, he served as medical operations lead for the space station and then served as lead crew surgeon for first expedition crew to the space station from July 1998 until selected as an astronaut candidate in 2000.
He served numerous technical roles before training for his first mission as a flight engineer on Expeditions 19 and 20 in 2009. During that mission, he acquired 199 days of spaceflight experience.
Nicole Stott
Stott, 47, also joined the astronaut ranks after working at NASA. Stott initially joined NASA at the Kennedy Space Center, serving numerous roles including vehicle operations engineer, NASA convoy commander, shuttle flow director for space shuttle Endeavour and orbiter project engineer for space shuttle Columbia. In 1998, she joined the Johnson Space Center team as a member of the aircraft operations division, where she served as a flight simulation engineer on the shuttle training aircraft.
Stott, also selected as an astronaut in 2000, flew her first mission in 2009 as a flight engineer for the Expedition 20 and 21 crews, logging 91 days in space. Stott serves as a mission specialist on the STS-133 crew.
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U.S. shuttle Discovery lifts off for final voyage
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space shuttle Discovery lifted off on Thursday afternoon from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to deliver a storage room to the International Space Station (ISS), on its own final scheduled flight.Full story.
