Caltech Grads Headed to Space Station
Space shuttle Endeavour is slated to launch tonight with two Caltech graduates on board for what is scheduled to be the longest International Space Station construction mission yet.
Garrett Reisman and Robert Behnken, alumni of the engineering and applied science division at the prestigious Pasadena institution, will act as mission specialists during the 16-day mission, which will feature the installation of a two-armed Canadian robot and the first component of the Japanese Kibo laboratory to the station.
There was only a 10-percent chance that weather would interfere with the launch as of Monday morning, according to NASA officials. The shuttle is scheduled to launch at 11:28 p.m., Pacific time.
Reisman, 40, received his master’s of science in mechanical engineering from Caltech in 1992 and his doctorate in 1997. The New Jersey native went on to work for Redondo Beach aerospace firm TRW before being selected for NASA’s astronaut corps in 1998. He is married to another Caltech engineering grad, Simone Francis.
The Missouri-born Behnken also received his master’s and doctorate degrees from Caltech, in 1993 and 1997, respectively. A U.S. Air Force major and test pilot, he has flown 25 different types of aircraft including the Air Force’s most advanced fighter plane currently in service, the F-22 Raptor. He joined NASA as a mission specialist in 2000.
This will be the first space mission for both Behnken and Reisman.
Behnken will conduct three spacewalks to help install Dextre, the Canadian two-armed manipulator system that will be attached to the end of the station’s Canadarm 2 robotic arm. He will also help test a space-age caulk gun designed to repair damaged shuttle tiles, part of a system developed in response to the 2003 loss of the shuttle Columbia. That accident, caused by a damaged heat shield, resulted in the deaths of seven astronauts.
Reisman will conduct one spacewalk to help install the Japanese experiment logistics module, the first of three sections of the Kibo laboratory. Kibo will be the third major laboratory module to join the station, after the American Destiny lab and the European Columbus module that was installed on the station last month.
After the mission Behnken will return to Earth aboard Endeavour while Reisman will remain on the station for six-month tour of duty aboard the orbital outpost.