FUTURE SPACE STATION RESIDENT JOINS ASSEMBLY CREW



July 30, 1998



Renee Juhans
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1712)



Eileen M. Hawley/Doug Peterson
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

<h4>Release: H98-137</h4> <h3>Future Space Station Resident Joins 
Assembly Crew</h3> 

Veteran cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev, who will be one of the first 
full-time residents on board the International Space Station, will 
join the crew of STS-88, the first American assembly mission.



Krikalev will join Commander Robert D. Cabana, (Col., USMC); Pilot 
Frederick "Rick" Sturckow (Major, USMC); Mission Specialists Nancy 
Currie (Major, USA); Jerry Ross (Col., USAF); and Jim Newman, Ph.D., 
when Endeavour launches in December.



The seven-day mission will be highlighted by the mating of the 
U.S.-built "Unity" module to the Russian-built "Zarya" control 
module, which will already be in orbit. Zarya, which was built for 
NASA by Boeing and the Krunichev Enterprise, is scheduled for launch 
on a Russian Space Agency Proton rocket from the Baikonur Cosmodrome 
in Kazakstan this November.



"Sergei's experience with both the U.S. and Russian programs and his 
familiarity with the Shuttle make him a valuable addition to this 
crew," said David C. Leestma, director of Flight Crew Operations at 
NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX.



A cosmonaut since 1985, Krikalev has accumulated more than one year 
and three months in space as a member of two Mir space station crews. 
He has flown on board the Shuttle once before, as a member of the 
STS-60 crew in February 1994. During that nine- day mission, Krikalev 
operated the Shuttle's robot arm and supported a wide variety of 
materials science experiments. Throughout the joint Shuttle/Mir 
program, he actively supported operations, working with ground 
controllers in Johnson's Mission Control.



For more information on Krikalev and other astronauts, go to:

	
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