[sarex] NASA Assigns Crew for Japanese Lab and Canadian Robotics Mission

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468

> Jan. 29, 2007
>
> Katherine Trinidad
> Headquarters, Washington 
> 202-358-3749 
>
> Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters
> Johnson Space Center, Houston 
> 281-483-5111 
>
>
> NASA ASSIGNS CREW FOR JAPANESE LAB AND CANADIAN ROBOTICS MISSION
>
> WASHINGTON - NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission 
> STS-123. The flight will deliver both the first component of the 
> Japanese Experiment Module Kibo and the new Canadian Dextre robotics 
> system to the International Space Station. 
>
> Navy Capt. Dominic L. Gorie will command the Space Shuttle Endeavour 
> on the STS-123 mission, targeted for launch in December 2007. Air 
> Force Col. Gregory H. Johnson will serve as the pilot. Mission 
> specialists will include NASA astronauts Richard M. Linnehan; Air 
> Force Maj. Robert L. Behnken; and Navy Capt. Michael J. Foreman. 
> Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takao Doi also will 
> serve as a mission specialist. The mission will deliver a new station 
> crew member to the complex and return another to Earth. Those 
> individuals will be announced at a later date. 
>
> Foreman had been assigned to the STS-120 shuttle mission but has been 
> reassigned to STS-123. Astronaut Stephanie Wilson, who flew on last 
> year's STS-121 mission, will replace Foreman as a mission specialist 
> on STS-120, targeted for launch in September 2007. 
>
> STS-123 is the first in a series of flights that will launch 
> components to complete the Kibo laboratory. The mission also will 
> deliver the Canadian Space Agency's Dextre robotic system, a smaller 
> manipulator equipped with two arms and designed to work with 
> Canadarm2 to perform finer maintenance tasks that normally would be 
> accomplished with spacewalks by astronauts on the International Space 
> Station. The mission will include four spacewalks to install the new 
> hardware. 
>
> STS-123 will be the fourth spaceflight for Gorie and Linnehan, the 
> second spaceflight for Doi and the first spaceflight for Johnson, 
> Behnken and Foreman. 
>
> Gorie flew as the pilot of STS-91 in 1998 and STS-99 in 2000. One year 
> later, he commanded STS-108. He was born in Lake Charles, La., and 
> graduated from Miami Palmetto High School, Miami, Fla. Gorie has a 
> bachelor's from the Naval Academy, Annapolis, Md., and a master's 
> from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He was selected as an 
> astronaut in 1994. 
>
> Johnson was selected as an astronaut in 1998. He was born in South 
> Ruislip, Middlesex, United Kingdom, but graduated from Park Hills 
> High School in Fairborn, Ohio. Johnson has a bachelor's from the Air 
> Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colo., and master's degrees from 
> Columbia University, New York, and from the University of Texas, 
> Austin. 
>
> Linnehan flew on STS-78 in 1996 and STS-90 in 1998. During STS-109 in 
> 2002, he performed three spacewalks to service the Hubble Space 
> Telescope. Linnehan was born in Lowell, Mass. He has a bachelor's 
> from the University of New Hampshire, Durham, N.H., and doctorate in 
> veterinary medicine from Ohio State University, Columbus. 
>
> Selected as an astronaut in 2000, Behnken considers St. Ann, Mo., his 
> hometown. He has a bachelor's from Washington University, St. Louis, 
> and a master's and a doctorate from the California Institute of 
> Technology, Pasadena, Calif. 
>
> Foreman considers Wadsworth, Ohio, his hometown and was selected as an 
> astronaut in 1998. Foreman has a bachelor's from the Naval Academy 
> and a master's from the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, Calif. 
>
> Doi was born in Minamitama, Tokyo. He first flew on STS-87 in 1997, a 
> mission during which he became the first Japanese astronaut to 
> conduct a spacewalk. Doi has a bachelor's, a master's and a doctorate 
> in aerospace engineering from the University of Tokyo. He also has a 
> doctorate in astronomy from Rice University, Houston. 
>
> Assigned to STS-120, Wilson is a Massachusetts native. She operated 
> both the station and shuttle robotic arms during the STS-121 mission 
> and oversaw the transfer of more than 28,000 pounds of gear between 
> the shuttle and station. Wilson has a bachelor's from Harvard 
> University, Cambridge, Mass., and a master's from the University of 
> Texas, Austin. 
>
> Video of the STS-123 and STS-120 crew members will air on NASA TV's 
> Video File. For downlink and scheduling information and links to 
> streaming video, visit: 
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/ntv 
>
> For complete astronaut biographical information, visit: 
>
> http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
>
> For more information about NASA's Space Shuttle Program, visit:
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
>
> 	
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