WASHINGTON, May 16 (Xinhua) -- U.S. space shuttle Endeavor lifts off on Monday morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida, to deliver to the International Space Station a 2-billion-dollar, multinational particle detector known as the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, which is the final scheduled flight for the spaceship.
The following are brief introductions to the six astronauts aboard the shuttle.
Mark Kelly
Veteran astronaut and a captain in the U.S. Navy, Kelly will lead the mission and its crew. In his role as commander, he has overall responsibility for the safety and execution of the mission, orbiter systems operations and flight operations, including landing. In addition, he will fly Endeavor through its rendezvous and docking to the space station.
Kelly previously served as pilot of two shuttle missions and commander of one mission in 2008. He has logged 38 days in space.
Greg Johnson
A retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Johnson will be making his second trip into space as pilot on the mission. He will be responsible for orbiter systems operations, will assist Kelly with rendezvous and will fly Endeavor during undocking and the fly around.
Johnson was the pilot on STS-123 mission in 2008. He has logged more than 4,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft.
Michael Fincke
A colonel in the U.S. Air Force, Fincke will serve as a mission specialist. Selected by NASA in 1996, Fincke has logged more than 365 days in space and more than 26 hours of spacewalk time in six spacewalks.
Roberto Vittori
Vittori is a member of the European Space Agency (ESA). A colonel in the Italian Air Force, he was selected as an astronaut by the Italian Space Agency, in cooperation with the ESA, and later joined the European Astronaut Corps. Vittori has flown to the space station twice as a spaceflight participant.
Andrew Feustel
Making his second trip into space, Feustel will serve as a mission specialist. Selected by NASA in 2000, Feustel flew on the fifth and final Hubble servicing mission and accumulated nearly 13 days in space.
Greg Chamitoff
Chamitoff will serve as a mission specialist. He was a crew member of the Aquarius undersea research habitat for nine days as part of the NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations 3 mission. In addition, he served on Expedition 17/18, logging 183 days in space.
