Jennifer McCarter
Headquarters, Washington, DC            November 16, 1998
(Phone:  202/358-1639)

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

RELEASE:  98-205

THIRD U.S. SPACE STATION ASSEMBLY CREW NAMED

     Astronaut James D. Halsell, Jr. (Lieutenant Col., USAF) will 
command the third Space Shuttle mission to carry cargo to space 
for the International Space Station in August 1999.

     Joining Halsell in the flight deck for mission STS-101 aboard 
Atlantis will be Pilot Scott J. Horowitz, Ph.D. (Lieutenant Col., 
USAF).  Rounding out the crew are Mission Specialists Mary Ellen 
Weber, Ph.D.; Edward Tsang Lu, Ph.D.; and Jeffrey N. Williams 
(Lieutenant Col., USA).

     As the third International Space Station assembly flight, the 
mission will carry internal logistics and resupply cargo for 
station operations.  The equipment will further the outfitting of 
the Russian Service Module.

     "STS-101 will bring important components and equipment to the 
growing Station assembly," said James D. Wetherbee, Director of 
Flight Crew Operations and Deputy Director of NASA's Johnson Space 
Center, Houston.  "This talented crew brings a great deal of 
experience and skill to make this key mission a success."

     STS-101 will be Halsell's fifth mission, and his third as 
commander.  Selected as an astronaut in 1990, he flew as pilot on 
STS-65 in 1994 and STS-74 in 1995, and as commander on STS-83 and 
STS-94 in 1997.  Horowitz served as pilot in his two previous 
missions:  STS-75 in 1996 and STS-82 in 1997.

     Weber, a Mission Specialist onboard Discovery on STS-70, will 
be on her second space flight.  Lu also will be on his second 
space trip; his first was STS-84 which docked to the Mir Space 
Station.  Mission Specialist Williams will be making his first 
space flight.

     For biographical information on the STS-101 crew and other 
astronauts, see the NASA Internet astronaut biography home page 
at:

             http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/

     For information on the International Space Station, visit the 
Space Station home page at: 

               http://station.nasa.gov/

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