Shuttle Discovery's Final Crew is an Experienced Astronaut Bunch
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
? A tight-knit crew of six veteran astronauts are gearing up to ride the space
shuttle Discovery on her last voyage beyond Earth this week.
The spaceflyers are
due to launch on Discovery on Wednesday (Nov. 3) at 3:52 p.m. EDT (1952 GMT),
from Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla.
The five men and one
woman slated to lift off on the shuttle are not just crewmates, but friends as
well. In fact, five of the six crewmembers were selected into the same
astronaut training class. They are flying on the final
mission for shuttle Discovery ? STS-133 ? as NASA prepares to retire its
shuttle fleet next year.
But just who are the
people behind the orange spacesuits? Here's a glimpse at each member of the
last crew of space shuttle Discovery:
The commander
Steve Lindsey, 50, is
the commander of the mission. A native of Temple City, Calif., Lindsey is a
retired Colonel in the United States Air Force. He was selected as an astronaut
candidate by NASA in 1995, and has made four spaceflights, two of those on
shuttle Discovery.
"Discovery is a
workhorse ? fleet leader in number of flights," Lindsey said in a
preflight briefing. "It's a privilege to be able to fly the last flight of
Discovery." [Gallery:
Building Space Shuttle Discovery]
The strong but
soft-spoken Lindsey said he is excited to lead his fellow crewmembers on the
11-day expedition to the International Space Station.
"Personally, I'm
really excited to be flying with this crew," Lindsey said. "They're a
fantastic group of people to fly with. Somebody once told me, you'll find as
you get more experience, it's less about what you do on a mission, and more
about who you get to fly it with. And I think that's really true in this case."
Lindsey is married
and has three children.
The pilot
Eric Boe will serve
as the pilot of STS-133, Discovery's
39th flight. The 46-year old native of Atlanta, Ga. is a
colonel in the United States Air Force, and was selected to join NASA as a
pilot in July 2000.
Boe completed his
first spaceflight on NASA's STS-126 mission, on the space shuttle Endeavour. At
a preflight briefing, Boe reflected on the significance of being part of one of
the final flights of NASA's space shuttle program.
"I think all of
us are happy to be on another flight," Boe said. "It's a little
bittersweet when something comes to an end, but it's a privilege to be able to
fly the vehicle."
For the upcoming
mission, Boe said he is most looking forward to gaining new experiences and
working as a team with his other crewmembers.
"When you're up
there, things go pretty quick," he said. "I think I'll have a little
more time to look around and pay attention to the small details. The biggest
overall thing I hope to get out of this is to really absorb some of the small
details I might have missed on the first flight."
Boe is married and
has two children.
The astronaut dreamer
Discovery's Mission
Specialist 1 is Alvin Drew, a recently retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force.
During the crew's stay at the space station, Drew will participate in the
mission's two spacewalks.
In addition to
commemorating the legacy of the space shuttle
Discovery, Drew will have another important milestone to
celebrate while in space ? on Nov. 5, he will turn 48-years?old.
Drew, who was born in
Washington, D.C., was selected as a mission specialist by NASA in July 2000,
and made his first spaceflight aboard the shuttle Endeavour for STS-118 in
2007. Having grown up dreaming of becoming an astronaut, Drew admitted that his
spaceflying career seems almost surreal at times.
"[Becoming an
astronaut] was one of the things that was in the back of my mind during my Air
Force career, but nothing that I really took that seriously," he
explained. "I think depending your career on becoming an astronaut is like
planning your pension around winning the lottery. It's something that you can
go pursue, but you should have a 'Plan B' in place. I did everything to stack
the deck in my favor, but never really expected it would happen."
Drew's spacewalks on
Discovery's STS-133 flight will be the first of his career, and he said he's
proud to contribute to the future of the orbiting laboratory.
"Hopefully I can
come back in 2020 and see the station working and think, I had a small part in
keeping it going this long," he said.
The Army's spacewalker
U.S. Army Col. Tim
Kopra will serve as a mission specialist for Discovery's STS-133 spaceflight.
The 47-year old native of Austin, Tex., is Discovery's Mission Specialist 2 and
will lead the two spacewalks outside the station during the mission.
Kopra was selected to
become an astronaut in July 2000 and completed his first spaceflight in 2009.
He launched with the STS-127 crew aboard the space shuttle Endeavour in 2009
and logged two months aboard the space station. During his stay, Kopra
performed one spacewalk and completed robotic operations and numerous science
experiments.
For the upcoming
mission, Kopra is especially excited to be reunited with so many of his
classmates from the astronaut corps.
"What's really
special about this flight is the fact that all the Class of 2000 folks are on
it," he said. "We started together, and here it is 10 years later and
now we're going to have this opportunity ? all of us with some spaceflight
experience, and being able to share that together. We started out knowing very
little to nothing about spaceflight, and all of us have grown in different ways
over the years."
As NASA's space
shuttle program draws to a close, Kopra and his crewmates recognize the
contributions of the many people across the nation that work tirelessly to
ensure the safety of the astronauts and the success of the mission.
"We really feel
honored to be doing what we're doing," Kopra said. "The vehicle is a
representation of a lot of hard work and a group of people who have been
working toward a safe flight every single time."
Kopra is married and
has two children.
Discovery's space doctor
Michael Barratt
joined NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston as a project physician in May
1991 and was subsequently selected for astronaut training in July 2000. Now,
the doctor-turned-astronaut
will perform duties as Mission Specialist 3 on Discovery's last spaceflight.
In March 2009,
Barratt embarked on his first spaceflight, launching on a Russian Soyuz TMA-14
rocket to the International Space Station. During the long-duration mission
aboard the orbiting outpost, he logged 199 days in space.
"I was surprised
how little free time we had on our station mission," Barratt said in a
preflight interview. "After six and a half months, we were still working
very long days. I wouldn't call a station mission leisurely in any way, shape
or form."
In light of
Discovery's final mission, Barratt maintains that a lot of the glory belongs to
the people who, over the years, maintained the shuttle between flights.
"The orbiters
look great. If you just landed and didn't know the political landscape, you'd
never know the program was coming to an end, because the birds are so
pristine," Barratt said. "Everybody is incredibly dedicated. They're
doing what they're doing for all the same reasons they signed on for years
ago."
Barratt, 51, calls
Camas, Wash. his hometown. He is married and has five children.
Home again on space station
Nicole Stott is the
Mission Specialist 4 for Discovery's upcoming flight. She began working at
NASA's Kennedy Space Center in 1988 as an operations engineer in the Orbiter
Processing Facility.
Stott, 47, was
selected for astronaut training in July 2000 and launched on her first
spaceflight to the International Space Station in 2009, also aboard Discovery.
The mission also marked Stott's first long-duration tour of duty on the
orbiting station. While living and working on the space station, Stott completed
one spacewalk and spent a total of 91 days in space.
Stott's second
journey on Discovery will also be the orbiter's last, and in a preflight
briefing, she spoke about the prolific
shuttle's storied career.
"It's a historic
thing that we have such a special vehicle to fly," she said. "The
hope, in addition to having a successful mission, is that we'll be celebrating
the real significance of the vehicle itself. We have to look at this as a
celebration of just how wonderful Discovery has performed."
Additionally, having
grown up in Clearwater, Fla., Stott knows firsthand the impact and enduring
legacy that NASA's space shuttle program has had on the country.
"There's nothing
negative that you can say about it," Stott said. "There are only
positives and encouraging things that have come from this program."
Stott is married and
has one child.
- Gallery:
Building Space Shuttle Discovery
- Space
Shuttle Discovery's Legacy: 26 Years of the Right Stuff
- Video ?
Space Shuttle Discovery: A Retrospective, Part 2,
Part 3
Follow SPACE.com Staff Writer Denise Chow on Twitter @denisechow as she covers Discovery's final space voyage from Cape Canaveral, Fla. Click here for mission updates, new stories and a link to NASA's live webcast coverage.









