STS-108

Video 1: Animation of Space Station Flyby

"This 12th flight to the International Space Station marks the beginning of another phase. STS-108 is the first Utilization Flight of the Station program. Space Shuttle Endeavour is poised on pad 39B, ready to carry a seven-member crew to the International Space Station during mission STS-108.
All eyes and imaginations have been focused on the assembly of the Station, since the first Space Station mission launch in 1998. And today, Endeavour sits on the pad, ready to leave our Earthly confines and embark on an 11-day mission.
Aboard Endeavour is the Raffaello Multi-Purpose Logistics Module (MPLM), carried in the orbiter's payload bay. Raffaello will deliver to the ISS experiments and hardware for use by the Expedition Four crew.
This is indeed an historic opportunity to watch-as the dream of people living and working together in space comes one step closer to reality."

Slide 1: (Space Shuttle Endeavour sits on Pad 39-B)

Space Shuttle Endeavour, shown here, on launch pad 39-B, is nearing final preparations for its flight to the International Space Station, where it will carry the Multi-Purpose Logistics Module Raffaello, transfer hardware, and perform the third ISS crew rotation.

Slide 2 (Crew Members in preflight training)

During mission STS-108, several experiments will be performed. One study is the Multiple Application Customized Hitchhiker-1, a collection of experiments mounted in Endeavour's payload bay. The collection includes the Lightweight Multi-Purpose Experiment Support Structure Carrier and the deployable payload Starshine-2. Starshine-2's 800 aluminum mirrors were polished by more than 25,000 students from 26 countries.
The Commercial Biomedical Testing Module, a middeck experiment, will test pharmaceuticals and examine mice in microgravity for several pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in hopes of developing better treatment of osteoporosis in humans.

Slide 4: (STS-108 Mission Patch)

And now I'm pleased to introduce you to the crew of STS-108.

Slide 5: (STS-108 Formal Crew Photo)

Standing from left, are Mission Specialists Daniel Tani and Linda Godwin, Commander Dominic Gorie, and Pilot Mark Kelly. In front at left, are the Expedition Four crew members, from left, Daniel Bursch, Commander Yuri Onufrienko and Carl Walz. On the right are the returning Expedition Three crew members, from left, Mikhail Tyurin, Commander Frank Culbertson and Vladimir Dezhurov.

Slide 6 (Dominic Gorie, Formal)

Dominic Gorie, shown here, will serve as commander on this his third flight. After being selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1994, he was initially assigned to work safety issues for the Astronaut Office. Gorie next served as CAPCOM, an assignment responsible for direct communications with the Shuttle when on orbit, in Mission Control at Houston, TX. He served as pilot aboard STS-91 in 1998, the final Shuttle-Mir docking mission, and STS-99 in 2000, the Shuttle Radar Topography mission. He has logged over 504 hours in space.

Video 2: (Gorie)

"UF-1 is one of those, I think, cornerstone flights that marks a transition period from the initial build of the Space Station to its fully functioning role as an orbiting laboratory and we are sort of at the turning point there where not only are we doing a crew transfer but we're bringing up science and payloads and bringing down completed science and payloads that are in work on the Station. So, I think from here on we could probably consider the Space Station as a fully functioning commercial and technological venture that's serving its purpose as a full laboratory. Up to now it's been in a build status and we're going to build on it in the future, but we really get to participate in both of those kind of roles where we're doing a crew transfer, we're going to do an EVA to do some repairs, but we're also doing a lot of science transfers that we're really excited about. And, I think if you consider UF-1 as that pivotal flight in our history of building the Station that's probably a pretty good description of us."

Slide 8 (Pilot Mark Kelly, formal)

Mark Kelly will serve as pilot on Mission STS-108. Kelly flew 39 combat missions in Operation Desert Storm and has logged over 2,000 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft. Selected by NASA in 1996, he was assigned to technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch. STS-108 will be Kelly's first Shuttle flight. Along with his other duties, Kelly will operate the Shuttle's robotic arm during the flight's only spacewalk.

Slide 9 (Kelly, informal)

Kelly shown here in preflight training, was born in Orange, New Jersey, but considers West Orange, New Jersey, to be his hometown. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in marine engineering and nautical science with honors from the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy, and a Master of Science degree in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School.
Kelly talks about his contributions to the mission.

Video 3: (Kelly)

"Well, first off, my number one job is as the pilot of Endeavour, I have a lot of responsibility with all the systems on the orbiter: the main engines, the electrical system, the hydraulic system, reaction control system, orbital maneuvering engines, that for launch and landing that stuff's on my side of the cockpit. My other main job as the pilot is to back up the Commander in the flying of the orbiter. I'll be at the controls of Endeavour for the undock and flyaround portion of the flight, so that's taken a lot of my time now. But in addition to that, I'm also the arm operator for part of the mission."

Slide 10 (Linda Godwin, Formal)

Dr. Linda Godwin will serve as a mission specialist on her fourth flight aboard Endeavour on Mission STS-108. She joined NASA in 1980, in the Payload Operations Division, Mission Operations Directorate in Houston. Godwin was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1985, and first served as a mission specialist on STS-37. Since then, she has flown as Payload Commander on STS-59 and was a crew member of STS-76, a Mir docking mission. Dr. Godwin has logged over 633 hours in space. Along with Daniel Tani, she will be one of two space walkers on this mission. She will also serve as Shuttle loadmaster for equipment transfer as well as operate the Shuttle's robotic arm during berthing and unberthing of the MPLM

Slide 11 (Godwin, informal)

Dr. Godwin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and physics from Southeast Missouri State, and Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in physics from the University of Missouri. She considers her hometown to be Jackson, Missouri.
Dr. Godwin, shown here in preflight training, discusses some of the experiments aboard Endeavour.

Video 4: (Godwin)

"There're a lot of things out on the Hitchhiker. There's a Student Experiment Module that has probably eight or ten separate experiments within it and about six GAS cans out there, each of which has many smaller experiments inside each of those. And they range from different crystal growth to looking at seeds to looking at impact in dust, to looking at different kinds of biotechnology. Really, it's the breadth of the imagination of all the users that are involved here and anything you can pack into one of these cans that can be pretty well self-contained and autonomous and that has unique things to be looked at in microgravity."

Slide 12 (Daniel Tani, formal)

Mission Specialist Daniel Tani will make his first flight into space aboard Endeavour. Tani joined NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1996. Since then he served as lead for development of procedures and constraints for the launching of the Pegasus unmanned rocket, and headed a team of engineers who worked in the launch and control room. Tani will be one of two space walkers.

Slide 13 (Tani, informal)

Tani holds Bachelor and Master of Science degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Shown here in preflight training, he was born in Ridley Park, Pennsylvania, but considers Lombard, Illinois, his hometown.
Tani discusses his contribution to the mission.

Video 5: (Tani)

"Well, my role during rendezvous will be the procedure keeper. Similar to my MS2 role, during ascent and landing, I'm the one who sort of has the overview of the procedure. Dom is doing the flying, Mark is working the computer program that shows the relationship between the shuttle and the Station and what the path will be, Linda is working the cameras and a thing called a handheld laser to get range rate. I'm the person to make sure that all those players are following the procedure, that we're doing all the right things, that we're talking to the ground at the right time, so that's my role."

Slide 14 (Yuri Onufrienko, formal)

Onufrienko will fly aboard Endeavour as commander of the Expedition Four crew. He graduated from the V.M. Komarov Eisk Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots with a pilot-engineer's diploma and from Moscow State University in 1994 with a degree in cartography. He was appointed to the position of cosmonaut candidate at the Cosmonaut Training Center in 1989. Onufrienko and two other crew members will replace the current Expedition Three crew members aboard the Station.

Slide 15 (Onufrienko, informal)

As a test cosmonaut he has logged over 800 flight hours and 193 days in space. He previously served as Commander of Mir-21, where he performed numerous research experiments and participated in six spacewalks. Onufrienko, shown here in preflight training, was born in Ukraine.
Onufrienko explains how the STS-108 crew members along with Expedition 4 crew members are helping set the stage for future Station work.

Video 6: (Onufrienko)

"Our current plan is to have our expedition about 140 days. We begin our expedition, from UF-1 and finish it during flight UF-2. The major idea of our flight is, as you know, to continue work which was begun in Expedition 3 and maybe, this is not only my dream, but this is a big part of work, to continue this work after our mission, I mean Expedition 5."

Slide 16 (Daniel Bursch, formal)

Daniel Bursch will fly aboard Endeavour as a member of the Expedition Four crew. He was selected by NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1990 and has logged over 746 hours in space. Mission STS-108 is his fourth space flight. He served as a mission specialist on STS-51 in 1993, STS-68 in 1994 and STS-77 in 1996.

Slide 17 (Bursch, informal)

Bursch, shown here in preflight training, was born in Bristol, Pennsylvania, but considers Vestal, New York, to be his hometown. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from the U.S. Naval Academy and a Master of Science degree in engineering science from the Naval Postgraduate School.
Bursch talks about goals and the international aspect of the Station.

Video 7: (Bursch)

"I think our main goal, one of the main goals of the International Space Station is to, is to put a permanent human presence in space. Another main goal, which is just in the name itself is "International" Space Station. A lot of the work that we've done in the last four years has been centered around working with primarily the Russians but also the other international partners and that by far, to me personally, has probably been one of the biggest challenges for the International Space Station."

Slide 18 (Carl Walz, formal)

Expedition Four crew member, Carl Walz, will make his fourth space flight aboard Endeavour. Walz joined NASA as an astronaut candidate in 1990 and has logged over 833 hours in space. He served as a mission specialist on STS-51 in 1993, was the Orbiter flight engineer on STS-65 in 1994, and was a mission specialist on STS-79 in 1996.

Slide 19 (Walz, informal)

Walz shown here in preflight training, holds a Bachelor of Science degree in physics from Kent State University and a Master of Science degree in solid state physics from John Carroll University. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio.
Walz talks about the challenges and growth he anticipates for the Station.

Video 8: (Walz)

"Well, in the short term, of course, we will continue the assembly of the Space Station and I think we'll continue to build out the external truss, to provide the power that we need then for the additional modules that will be coming from Japan and Europe, and then additional modules, perhaps, on the Russian segment as well. So, so the activity will continue. And I think at some point we'll expand the crew to probably six people so that we can have a more robust science activity as we have these additional laboratories available. So, short term, I guess continue the building, and then long term a bigger crew. I also see that we'll begin more commercial activities on board the Station as well as we can finish building and then we get into a more mature operation, we'll see more commercial ventures coming on board. And that'll be, I think, a tremendous challenge."

Slide 20 (Expedition Three crew members)

The Expedition Three crewmembers, Tyurin, Culbertson and Dezhurov, shown here, will return aboard Endeavour after living on the International Space shown here, will return aboard Endeavour after living on the International Space Station for more than three months. The Expedition Three crew's residence on the Station marked one year of continuous human presence in orbit.

Now, the Space Shuttle Endeavour is poised for launch on Pad 39B and her seven-member crew is counting down their final hours before the November 29 launch.

We at Kennedy Space Center thank you for joining us, and for sharing our enthusiasm for this very important and significant mission to the International Space Station.