NASA's decision to split the mission into two flights and make a crew swap made for a fast-paced training schedule. Astronauts Helms, Voss and Usachev swapped with Ed Lu, Yuri Malchenko and Boris Morukov.
That trio will now fly the STS 106 mission with commander Terrence Wilcutt, pilot Scott Altman and mission specialists Richard Mastracchio and Dan Burbank sometime in late summer after the Russian service module docks with the ISS.
Commander -- Jim Halsell
Mission Commander Jim Halsell says he led an idyllic life as a youngster growing up in West Monroe, Louisiana.
"I really led a Huck Finn existence," the 43-year-old Air Force colonel said. "I really did things like build rafts and float down the river."
Halsell makes his fifth trip into space on this flight. He even flew the same mission twice. In 1997, a mission he commanded was cut short after one of the shuttle fuel cells developed problems. Halsell and the same crew re-flew the mission a few months later.
One of his responsibilities during the STS 101 mission is to dock the orbiter with the ISS. In 1995, Halsell was the pilot on the second docking of a shuttle to the Russian space station Mir.
In early March, Halsell sprained his ankle descending the stairs inside one of the simulators at Johnson Space Center. The incident was partially responsible for pushing the launch date back until April 24.
Pilot Scott Horowitz
Persistence is the key to joining the astronaut corps, according to shuttle pilot Scott Horowitz. He says he applied at least seven times before being accepted in 1992.
"I kept sending in my application until they got tired of hearing from me, so they hired me," the 43-year-old Air Force lieutenant colonel said.
Horowitz also has the distinction of being the only current pilot-astronaut in the corps who has a doctorate. He has a Ph.D. in aerospace engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
In addition to piloting duties, Horowitz will act as the coordinator of the spacewalk performed by Voss and Williams. Hell also be a backup to the spacewalking duo, should one of them need to be replaced.
Horowitz makes his third trip into space and, along with Halsell, will test out the improved instrumentation in Atlantis "glass cockpit."
In his spare time, Horowitz takes his four-year-old daughter flying in a two-seat airplane he and his wife built in their garage.
Mission specialist -- Mary Ellen Weber
Mary Ellen Weber likes to fly in space, but misses her hobby skydiving.
The 37-year-old mission specialist has more than 3,000 jumps to her credit, while her husband has more than 5,000.
"Were not supposed to participate in anything that might get us hurt after being assigned to a mission," she said. "So I havent jumped in about 18 months."
Webers mission on this flight is to operate the orbiters robot arm to assist spacewalkers Voss and Williams along with some rearranging of items inside the Russian Zarya module so fellow crew members can access panels underneath.
The trip to ISS will be Webers second trip in space. In addition to being an astronaut, shes had administrative assignments as a legislative affairs liaison at NASA Headquarters and has worked with a venture capital firm identifying space companies to invest in.
Weber has a Ph.D. in physical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.
Mission specialist Susan Helms
When Susan Helms flies as part of the second crew to occupy the ISS in 2001, it wont be just a visit for her.
"I plan to move to space and see how that works," she said. "Im going to make space my home and have just a P.O. box and a bank account."
The 42-year-old Air Force lieutenant colonel plans on putting her possessions in storage and eliminating as many ties to Earth as she can.
On this mission though, shell be readying her future home for the first crew scheduled to occupy the station this fall. Helms and the others will deliver supplies to the station and swap out failed batteries and smoke detectors.
Helms makes her fourth trip in space on this mission.
When shes not in space, Helms has a more terrestrial hobby playing keyboard for Max-Q, the astronaut rock band.
Mission specialist Jim Voss
Veteran astronaut Jim Voss might know Russian space systems better than U.S. systems, he says.
The 51-year-old retired Army colonel spent several years training as a backup astronaut for Mir and in training for the International Space Station.
"Russia was a tremendous experience for me," Voss said. "Ive become fluent in Russian and it really broadened my horizons."
On this, his fourth trip into space, Voss will perform a spacewalk with Jeff Williams to make repairs to the station. He said the crew swap and short-training time, along with station-construction delays werent problems for him.
Voss, along with Helms and Usachev, are scheduled to occupy the station in 2001.
Mission specialist Jeff Williams
Army Lt. Col. Jeff Williams makes his spaceflight and spacewalking debut on this mission.
He and Voss will perform an almost seven-hour spacewalk to make repairs to station.
Williams, 42, joined the astronaut corps in 1996. Before that he was an Army helicopter and test pilot during several tries at becoming an astronaut.
"I had interviewed three times with NASA, so I suffered some disappointments in the endeavor," he said. "Id had several phone calls previously and this time it was inviting me to come down here."
Mission specialist Yuri Usachev
Cosmonaut Yuri Usachev has more space experience than the rest of the crew combined.
After two stints aboard the Russian space station Mir totaling more than one year and six spacewalks, he will be commander of the ISS when he, Helms and Voss occupy it in 2001.
He said his Mir experience should translate well to the ISS for the most part.
"Im very familiar with the Russian equipment, so I dont worry about the technical part," he said. "The more difficult part is the controlling [of] the station by computer with different software than Ive used."
Usachev said another challenge is communication with the ground is done in English, but Voss and Helms can help.
"Jims (Voss) Russian is better than my English," he joked. "Were going to work together and it wont be a problem."
Usachev, 42, began his career as an engineer working for the Russian space company Energia.
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