NASA's
shuttle Atlantis will launch toward the International Space Station (ISS) this
week with mix of experience at the helm to deliver a European addition to the
high-flying laboratory.
Leading the
orbital charge is shuttle
commander Stephen Frick, a veteran NASA astronaut, with first-time spaceflyer Alan Poindexter serving as mission pilot. They are eagerly awaiting their planned Thursday launch to haul the European Space Agency's (ESA) Columbus lab to the ISS with the help of five crewmates.
"Attitude
is everything up on orbit," said Frick, adding that his crewmates are
dedicated not only to their STS-122 mission, but also one
another. "I got very lucky with my crew."
Frick,
Poindexter and their crewmates plan to launch toward the ISS on Dec. 6 at 4:31
p.m. EST (2131 GMT) to deliver Columbus, swap out one ISS crewmember and stage three spacewalks during their planned 11-day mission.
"[H]aving the opportunity to work on the space station really
is the leading edge," Frick said in a NASA interview. "We've never done
anything like this in space before and we're learning a tremendous amount."
Atlantis
redux
Frick, 43,
is a commander in the U.S. Navy and a native of Gibsonia, Pa.,
where he grew up watching NASA's Apollo moon missions and Skylab space station
flights.
"Flying,
itself, was something I always wanted to do from my earliest memories, and what
could be more interesting than flying outside of the atmosphere and getting to
see basically all of the Earth in one 90-minute pass?" said Frick. "Just the
idea of that was mesmerizing."
Frick
joined NASA's astronaut ranks in 1996 after a decade flying with the U.S. Navy,
where he made 370 aircraft carrier landings and flew 26 combat missions during
Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. He first reached orbit in April 2002,
when he launched aboard Atlantis as STS-110
mission pilot to help install the space station's S0 truss during a 10-day spaceflight.
But now, Frick is ready to command that same spaceship.
"I have to
admit, I'm a little partial to Atlantis," Frick told reporters in a mission
briefing. "There is something special about flying on the same vehicle twice."
Frick
likens the risks of launching spaceward today to those facing explorers on the
ocean hundreds of years ago as they crossed between continents and sailed
through arctic and Antarctic waters.
"I think
it's the same in space," said Frick, who is married and holds degrees in
aerospace and aeronautical engineering. "It's a place we have to go."
In addition
to successfully delivering Columbus to the ISS, Frick hopes to take some personal time to hunt for his hometown from orbit. During STS-110, his attempts to spot the Gibsonia from orbit were
thwarted three separate occasions.
"All three
times it was overcast," said Frick, adding that a wintry December is probably
not the best time to try to spot Pittsburgh from space. "[B]ut I really do want to see it with my
own eyes."
Orbital
debut
Like Frick,
Poindexter is a U.S. Navy commander and veteran test pilot, though STS-122 will
mark his first foray into space.
"I'm
looking very much forward to flying and getting Columbus on orbit," Poindexter told reporters
in a mission briefing.
Hailing
from Rockville, Md., Poindexter holds degrees in aerospace
aeronautical engineering and credits a chance meeting with former astronaut
Richard Truly, a retired U.S. Navy vice admiral, for pointing him toward orbit.
"Admiral Truly spoke about his first night launch and night landing
on STS-8, and I was very intrigued with it and got to talk to him afterwards,"
said Poindexter, who was attending Georgia Tech University at the time. "Ever since then, I've sort of aspired to come here and be an
astronaut."
Poindexter,
46, joined the Navy in 1986 and served in Arabian Gulf
during Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch before joining the branch's
test pilot ranks. NASA selected him to join the astronaut corps in 1998. In
addition to his role as shuttle pilot, Poindexter will also serve as an orbital
choreographer during the STS-122 mission's three planned spacewalks.
"My
challenge is to keep an eye out for their well being, to try to make their
timeline as optimum as possible and look out for potential pitfalls,"
Poindexter said of his spacewalking crewmates.
But the
payoff, he added, will come once Columbus is
installed, giving Europe its first permanent
orbital laboratory space at the ISS.
"We're
really looking forward to it," said Poindexter. "Working with people from
different backgrounds and different cultures is one of the big benefits of
working here."
Poindexter
and his wife Lisa have two grown sons, ages 22 and 18, but the family is proud
of his upcoming launch despite the risk of human spaceflight because of the
lengths NASA has gone increase shuttle flight safety.
"They know,
as well as I do, that NASA does a really good job of minimizing the risks," the
shuttle pilot said.
But while
human spaceflight will never be risk-free, it is an endeavor that continues to
be vital to push science, and civilization forward, Poindexter said.
"You know,
we need to go off and find out what's around the next corner, and what's just
beyond what we already know," he added. "It's part of our moral fiber to go off
and explore."
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