Kirsten Larson Headquarters, Washington, DC February 28, 2001 (Phone: 202/358-0243) Bruce Buckingham Kennedy Space Center, FL (Phone: 321/867-2468) James Hartsfield Johnson Space Center, TX (Phone: 281/483-5111) RELEASE: 01-30 SPACE STATION SHIFT-CHANGE SET WITH NEXT SHUTTLE LAUNCH After more than four months in orbit, it's time for the Expedition One crew to make way for the second group of space explorers aboard the International Space Station. Space Shuttle Discovery is set to take the Expedition Two crew into orbit the morning of March 8. Liftoff is scheduled for 6:42 a.m. EST. Discovery clears the way for a space station shift-change during STS-102 and brings an Italian-made cargo carrier, filled with laboratory experiments and equipment. "This will be the fifth space shuttle launch in the past seven months, and each of those missions has been safe, fully successful and, relative to its challenge and complexity, almost deceptively smooth," said Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron Dittemore. "That record is a testament to the excellent work that has been done by all members of the space shuttle and space station teams coast to coast. Discovery is ready and so are we." Discovery will be commanded by Jim Wetherbee. Jim Kelly will be the shuttle's pilot, and Andy Thomas and Paul Richards will serve as mission specialists. Discovery also will carry the second expedition crew -- Russian Commander Yury Usachev and Flight Engineers Jim Voss and Susan Helms, both American astronauts -- to the International Space Station. At the end of its almost 12-day flight, Discovery will bring home the first station crew, Commander Bill Shepherd, Pilot Yuri Gidzenko and Flight Engineer Sergei Krikalev, completing more than four months spent in orbit aboard the complex. Discovery also will take aloft the first station logistics carrier, an Italian-built logistics module named Leonardo, filled with the first major laboratory experiments as well as key equipment. Discovery is planned to land March 20 at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, FL. -end-