[sarex] NASA Announces Three ISS Crews

[Arthur Rowe]

SUBMITTED BY ARTHUR - N1ORC - AMSAT A/C #31468
> Feb. 12, 2007
>
> Katherine Trinidad
> Headquarters, Washington 
> 202-358-3749
>
> Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters
> Johnson Space Center, Houston 
> 281-483-5111 
>
>
>
> NASA ANNOUNCES THREE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CREWS
>
> WASHINGTON - NASA and its international partners have named the crews 
> that will live and work aboard the International Space Station for 
> the next two years. The crew members make up three expeditions to the 
> station and represent four space agencies. 
>
> The assignments include the first long-duration station flight for a 
> Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut and the second 
> long-duration station flight for an astronaut from the European Space 
> Agency (ESA). The JAXA and ESA astronauts will work on the 
> installation and checkout of the Japanese Experiment Module Kibo and 
> European Columbus laboratories on the station.
>
> NASA astronaut and veteran station crew member Peggy A. Whitson will 
> command Expedition 16, set to begin in fall 2007. The flight 
> engineers for the mission include cosmonaut and Russian Air Force 
> Col. Yuri I. Malenchenko, ESA astronaut and French Air Force Brig. 
> Gen. Leopold Eyharts and NASA astronaut Garrett E. Reisman. 
>
> Malenchenko will command the Russian Soyuz spacecraft that will carry 
> him and Whitson to the station and return them to Earth in spring 
> 2008. They will join NASA astronaut Daniel M. Tani aboard the 
> station. 
> Eyharts will fly to the station on space shuttle mission STS-122, 
> which is expected to deliver the Columbus lab this fall. Eyharts will 
> remain on the station to oversee activation and checkout of the 
> laboratory, while Tani takes the shuttle home. 
> Reisman will fly on shuttle Endeavour's STS-123 mission to replace 
> Eyharts. Reisman will remain on the station for about six months and 
> return on shuttle mission STS-119, targeted for summer 2008. 
> Russian Air Force Lt. Col. Sergei Volkov will command Expedition 17. 
> Expedition 17 flight engineers include cosmonaut Oleg D. Kononenko 
> and NASA astronaut Sandra H. Magnus. 
>
> Kononenko will command the Soyuz spacecraft that will carry him and 
> Volkov to the station in spring 2008 and bring them home in fall 
> 2008. 
> Magnus will arrive on STS-119 and remain aboard the station. Magnus 
> will return on the STS-126 mission targeted for summer 2008.
> NASA astronaut and station veteran Air Force Lt. Col. E. Michael 
> Fincke will command Expedition 18. Expedition 18 flight engineers 
> include cosmonaut and veteran station crew member Russian Air Force 
> Col. Salizhan S. Sharipov, JAXA astronaut Koichi Wakata and NASA 
> astronaut Gregory E. Chamitoff. 
>
> Sharipov will command the Soyuz that will carry him and Fincke to the 
> station in fall 2008 and back to Earth in spring 2009. 
> Wakata will fly to the station on STS-126 to replace Magnus. Magnus 
> will return to Earth on STS-126. 
> Chamitoff will fly to the station on the STS-127 mission, targeted for 
> winter 2008, the third and final flight for assembly of the Japanese 
> Kibo lab. Wakata will return to Earth on STS-127. Chamitoff will 
> return home on a later shuttle or Soyuz mission. 
> Expedition 16 backup crew members: 
>
> Fincke for Whitson 
> Sharipov for Malenchenko 
> ESA astronaut Frank DeWinne for Eyharts 
> NASA astronaut Army Lt. Col. Timothy L. Kopra for Reisman. 
> Expedition 17 backup crew members: 
>
> Cosmonaut and veteran station crew member Sergei Krikalev for Volkov 
> Cosmonaut Russian Air Force Col. Maxim V. Suraev for Kononenko 
> NASA astronaut Nicole P. Stott for Magnus.
> Expedition 18 backup crew members: 
>
> NASA astronaut Dr. Michael R. Barratt for Fincke 
> Cosmonaut Russian Air Force Lt. Col. Yuri V. Lonchakov for Sharipov 
> JAXA astronaut Soichi Noguchi for Wakata 
> NASA astronaut Army Col. Timothy J. Creamer for Chamitoff.
> Video of the prime crew members will air on NASA TV's Video File. For 
> NASA TV downlink, streaming video and scheduling information, visit:
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/ntv For complete crew biographies, visit: 
>
> http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/astrobio.html
>
> For more about upcoming space shuttle missions, visit: 
>
> http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
>
> 	
> -end-
>
>
>