"Dave is unique," said mission commander Jeff Ashby, 48, a Navy captain who has made more than 1,000 landings on an aircraft carrier. "Dave is the guy that if we have a leak on orbit and we're running around trying to execute procedures, Dave will calmly walk over with a wad of chewing gum and stick it in the hole."
During the mission, Wolf's primary duty will be that of spacewalker, joining fellow mission specialist Piers Sellers on three excursions outside the multinational complex. Their job: help install the S-One truss, a 45-foot-long (13.7-meter-long) collection of radiator panels, electronics and plumbing that eventually will help keep the station cool.
Ashby will be making his third spaceflight as well, his first as mission commander in charge of safely executing the entire flight. And although he hasn't racked up the same number of hours in space as Wolf has, Ashby appreciates the experience Wolf brings to the team.
"Dave approaches problems very differently than I do, and for that reason he is a tremendous asset on our crew," Ashby said.
Should Wolf decide one day to hang up his space helmet, his Russian crewmate -- Fyodor Yurchikhin -- has a suggestion for Wolf's next career: "I think this is a future Hollywood star," said Yurchikhin.
Yurchikhin, 43, is originally from Georgia -- as in the former state of the Soviet Union, not the state whose capital is Atlanta, the Atlantis commander noted during a pre-flight briefing. A spaceflight rookie, Yurchikhin began training as a cosmonaut working for RSC Energia in 1997.
Persevering to learn a second language and the American way of spaceflight, Yurchikhin is considered one of the hardest working members of the crew and definitely a member of the family. He'll spend much of his time during the mission helping to prepare Wolf and Sellers for their spacewalks, as well as assist in transferring cargo between the shuttle and the station.
"Fyodor is a really good man, a very smart man," Ashby said. "He has amazed me with his work ethic, both to understand his tasks, to learn English and to learn our culture. We all just think the world of him."
As you might expect, the praise is dished out in equal measures for each member of the crew, by each member of the crew.
"I'm really lucky to have Jeff as a commander," said mission specialist Sandy Magnus, a 37-year-old rookie from Illinois who has a doctorate in material science.
"Jeff has been really great about letting us rookies take on this responsibility and trusting us to do everything without worrying about if we're doing what we need to be doing. He's got the patience and ability to let us find our way," said Magnus.
When Atlantis docks with the ISS and the hatches opened, Magnus will be one of three women aboard. The other two include Expedition Five flight engineer Peggy Whitson, who has been in space since June, and shuttle pilot Pam Melroy, who will be making her second spaceflight.
Magnus said that as a rookie she's particularly glad to have other females in space with her. That "adds an extra dimension that's really nice", Magnus feels, noting that Melroy has been "clueing me in on stuff that, well, guys just don't think about." Magnus did not elaborate for the male reporter.
Magnus' role on this mission is principally to direct the transfer of several hundred pounds of food, supplies and water from Atlantis to the space station. It is a detail-intensive job, perfect for someone whose reputation on the crew is that of an organizer.
"Sandy can track more details than a Cray super computer," Wolf said.
"Sandy Magnus is our transfer queen. She is very detail oriented and very organized," said Melroy, 41, an Air Force colonel from California who became an astronaut in 1994.
As a shuttle pilot destined to command her own mission some day, Melroy wraps up all the qualities of leadership, flying skill and technical know how into one neat package, her crewmates say.
"She is like mother, I think," said Yurchikhin.
In addition to piloting duties that includes starting the auxiliary power units before launch and dropping the landing gear before touchdown, Melroy will be very busy choreographing the three planned spacewalks. From inside Atlantis, she will direct the activities of Wolf and Sellers as they work outside.
"She makes it look easy. Pam has this immense capacity for sensitivity to people's needs. She's a true leader," said Wolf.
As the so-called intravehicular activity crewmember, Melroy's voice will be a constant companion to Wolf and Sellers, and after some 40 practice sessions underwater and many other run-throughs, Sellers said he's become used to doing whatever Melroy tells him.
"It's gotten to the point where my wife wants to get Pam to call me on the phone at home and say 'Piers, do the washing up,'" Sellers said. The United Kingdom-native is known for his humor that can lighten the mood in any room. One of Atlantis' three rookies, Sellers, 47, has a doctorate in biometeorology and was selected by NASA as an astronaut in 1996.
"Piers is an absolutely technically competent astronaut," Wolf said. "He combines a real sense of humor with a true talent for the space business -- spacewalking in this case."
Atlantis commander Ashby puts it more succinctly: "Piers is the funniest."
Already expressing feelings of family before their launch, the bond this crew shares began forming early on when Ashby convinced each of them to take a field trip.
"Jeff had this great idea, I think, of taking us all out to the Badlands of Utah," Sellers said. "No change of clothes. No washing. Just carry all your food with you."
Part of a wilderness training course designed to build teamwork, the six participants spent 11 days in the great outdoors climbing up canyon walls and wading through chest-deep water.
"We learned to work as a team. And we learned about each other, details about each other that will come in very handy once the main engines cut off and we're living together again for 12 days in a very confined environment," Ashby said.
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