NASA assigns crew for STS-134 Shuttle Mission, with Roberto Vittori onboard
The flight will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer to the ISS
11 Aug 2009
NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-134. The flight will deliver the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer (AMS), a state-of-the-art particle physics detector, to the International Space Station.
Navy Capt. Mark Kelly will command the STS-134 mission, which will fly on shuttle Discovery or Endeavour, depending on whether it launches in July 2010 or September 2010. Air Force Col. Gregory H. Johnson will serve as the pilot. Mission Specialists are Air Force Col. Michael Fincke, Greg Chamitoff and Andrew Feustel. European Space Agency astronaut and Italian Air Force Col. Roberto Vittori also will serve as a mission specialist.
The flight will include three spacewalks to install the AMS to the exterior of the space station. Once attached to the right side of the station’s truss, or backbone, AMS will collect information from cosmic sources to search for evidence of anti-matter and further advance our knowledge of the universe. NASA also has named Air Force Col. Michael Good to replace Karen Nyberg on shuttle Atlantis’ STS-132 mission, targeted to launch in May 2010. Nyberg is being replaced due to a temporary medical condition. Because of medical privacy considerations, no other information on Nyberg’s condition will be made public. Nyberg will be assigned to a technical role while she awaits a possible future assignment.
Kelly previously served as the pilot of STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in 2006, and commander for STS-124 in 2008. He considers West Orange, N.J., to be his hometown. Kelly has a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, King's Point, N.Y., and a master's degree from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif.
Johnson previously flew as a pilot on STS-123 in 2008. He was born in South Ruislip, Middlesex, United Kingdom, but graduated from Park Hills High School in Fairborn, Ohio. Johnson has a bachelor's from the Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and master's degrees from Columbia University and the University of Texas, Austin. t is also the second mission for Feustel who flew as a mission specialist on STS-125 in May. He has an Associate Science degree from Oakland Community College, Mich., a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science from Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind., and a Ph.D. from Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Feustel considers Lake Orion, Mich., his hometown.
Fincke is a veteran of two long-duration missions. He served as the NASA science officer and flight engineer on Expedition 9, and commander for Expedition 18. He was born in Pittsburgh but considers Emsworth, Pa., his hometown. He has an Associate Science degree from El Camino College in Torrance, Calif., a Bachelor of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Master of Science degrees from Stanford University and the University of Houston - Clear Lake.
Chamitoff, also a veteran of a long-duration spaceflight, served as a flight engineer on Expedition 17 and 18. He was born in Montreal and grew up in San Jose, Calif. He holds bachelor's and master's of science degrees from California Polytechnic State University, a second master's degree from the University of Houston and a doctorate from MIT.
Vittori is a veteran of two prior spaceflights to the space station aboard the Russian Space Agency’s Soyuz spacecraft. He flew as a spaceflight participant. He was born in Viterbo, Italy. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Italian Air Force Academy and earned master’s degrees from the University of Naples and University of Perugia.
This will be the second mission for Good, who flew on STS-125. He was born in Parma, Ohio, and holds degrees from the University of Notre Dame.