Ed Campion
Headquarters, Washington, DC           November 14, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1778)

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

RELEASE:  96-238

CREW NAMED TO FOURTH MICROGRAVITY INVESTIGATION FLIGHT 

     Astronaut Kevin Kregel will command the crew of the 
fourth U. S.Microgravity Payload flight scheduled for an 
October 1997 launch on board Columbia on mission STS-87.  
Kregel will be joined by Pilot Steven W. Lindsey (Major, 
USAF) and Mission Specialists Winston E. Scott (Captain, 
USN), Kalpana Chawla, Ph.D. and Takao Doi, Ph.D. of the 
National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA)
.

     During 16 days on orbit, the astronauts will support 
fundamental science investigations and studies on the effects 
of microgravity on a variety of materials. The studies will 
focus on how materials, including metal and crystals, 
solidify when removed from the distorting effects of Earth's 
gravity, and will provide a better understanding of basic 
physics problems. 

     Scott and Doi also will perform a spacewalk during the 
flight.  Doi will be the first Japanese astronaut to conduct 
a spacewalk. 

     STS-87 will mark Kregel's third space flight, his first 
as Commander. During his most recent space flight, he was the 
pilot on Columbia on STS-78, the longest duration Shuttle 
mission to date lasting 17 days. Scott will be making his 
second Shuttle flight, having flown previously on STS-72 in 
January 1996 during which he performed a spacewalk. Lindsey, 
Chawla and Doi are members of the 1995 Astronaut Class.  They 
will be making their first journey to space during STS-87 
having completed more than one year of training to prepare 
them for assignment to a Shuttle flight. Doi was selected by 
NASDA in 1985 and participated in training as a backup 
candidate for a Japanese Spacelab mission prior to being 
named to the 1995 class. 

     For complete biographical information on the STS-87 
crew, or any astronaut, see the NASA Internet biography home 
page at URL:http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/ 

                                -end-