RELEASE: 94-004 2 p.m. CST

CREW SELECTED FOR STS-67 ASTRONOMY MISSION

Veteran astronaut Stephen S. Oswald will command the STS-67 flight, an

astronomy mission aboard Space Shuttle Columbia in late 1994. The mission

objectives are to study the far ultraviolet spectra of faint astronomical objects and to study the polarization of ultraviolet light coming from hot stars and galaxies.

Joining Oswald on the mission are Air Force Major William G. Gregory, who will

serve as the Pilot; Navy Lieutenant Commander Wendy B. Lawrence, mission specialist; and payload specialists Ronald A. Parise and Samuel T. Durrance. They will join Payload Commander Tamara E. Jernigan, named to the crew in August 1993, and mission specialist John M. Grunsfeld, named in October 1993.

The Astro-2 mission is the second dedicated to the conduct of astronomical

observations in the ultraviolet spectral regions. The experiments will observe a variety of targets ranging from objects inside the solar system to individual stars, nebulae, supernova remnants, galaxies and active extragalactic objects. The first Astro mission was flown in December 1990 aboard Columbia.

Oswald, 42, was Pilot on two missions aboard Discovery, STS-42 and STS-56

flown in January 1992 and April 1993, respectively. He was born in Seattle, Wash.,

but considers Bellingham, Wash., his hometown. Oswald received a bachelor of

science degree in aerospace engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1973.

Gregory, 36, was born in Lockport, N.Y., and received a master of science degree in engineering mechanics from Columbia University in 1980 and a master of science

degree in Management from Troy State in 1984. Gregory was selected for the

astronaut corps in 1990. STS-67 will be his first Space Shuttle mission.

Lawrence, 34, was born in Jacksonville, Fla., and received a bachelor of science degree in ocean engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1981. Her 1988 master of science degree in ocean engineering is from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Lawrence is a member of the astronaut class of 1992. This will be her

first Space Shuttle mission.

Parise, 42, was born in Warren, Ohio, and received a a doctor of philosophy degree in astronomy from the University of Florida in 1979. Parise is a member of

the research team for the Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope, one of the instruments scheduled for flight as part of the Astro payload. STS-67 will be his second flight as a payload specialist having served in that capacity on the first Astronomy payload mission aboard Columbia on the STS-35 flight in December 1990.

Durrance, 50, was born in Tallahassee, Fla., but considers Tampa, to be his

hometown. He received a doctor of philosophy degree in astrogeophysics from the

University of Colorado in 1980. Durrance is a Research Scientist in the Department

of Physics and Astronomy at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Md. He is

Assistant Project Scientist for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, one of the

instruments scheduled to fly as part of the Astro Observatory. Durrance is making his second flight as a payload specialist. He also served as a payload specialist on Columbia's Astro-1 mission, STS-35, in December 1990.

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