December 1, 2000

Kirsten William
NASA Headquarters, Washington DC
202/385-1600

Doug Peterson
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
281/483-5111

Release: J00-82

Shuttle Crews Named for Space Station and Research Missions

Astronaut crews have begun training for the STS-105 mission, which will exchange International Space Station crewmembers in June, and the STS-107 research mission in July.

Scott J. Horowitz, Ph.D. (Col., USAF) will command the STS-105 mission onboard the Shuttle Discovery. Joining him on the flight deck is Pilot Frederick W. "Rick" Sturckow (Maj., USMC). Mission specialists, Daniel T. Barry M.D., Ph.D. and Patrick G. Forrester (Lt. Col., USA) will round out the crew. Also onboard will be ISS Expedition 3 crewmembers Frank L. Culbertson (Capt., USN, Ret.), Vladimir N. Dezhurov (Lt. Col., Russian Air Force), and Mikhail Turin who will begin a 4-month stay on the station. Expedition 2 crewmembers Yuri V. Usachev, James S. Voss (Col., USA, Ret.) and Susan J. Helms (Col., USAF) will conclude their tour on the ISS and return to Earth onboard Discovery.

Horowitz will be taking his fourth trip into space, previously serving as pilot on STS-75 in 1996, STS-82 in 1997 and STS-101 last May. Sturckow was the pilot on STS-88, the first space station assembly mission in 1998. Barry, a veteran of two space walks, flew on STS-72 in 1996 and STS-96 in 1999. Forrester, selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996, will be taking his first flight into space.

Rick D. Husband (Lt. Col., USAF) will command the STS-107 mission with first-time flier William C. "Willie" McCool (Cmdr., USN) joining him as pilot. Husband served as pilot on STS-96, a space station assembly mission. McCool was selected as an astronaut candidate in 1996 and will be making his first flight to space. The remaining STS-107 crewmembers were previously named.

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