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NASA names three more astronauts to next shuttle flight

Posted on: Friday, 7 November 2003, 06:00 CST

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) -- NASA added three more astronauts Friday to its next space shuttle flight, a mission to test techniques for repairing wing holes like the one that doomed Columbia.

Four astronauts already had been assigned to the flight, but three more were needed to fill seats that were originally supposed to go to the next crew members of the international space station.

Before the Columbia disaster, NASA shuttles used to carry space station crews to and from the orbiting outpost. Since the accident, the Russian space program has taken over that job.

NASA is instead focusing on shuttle inspections and potential repairs for damage to shuttle thermal tiles and the reinforced carbon panels that make up the leading edges of the wings. The next mission is scheduled for no earlier than next fall.

The three new crew additions are: Andrew Thomas, an American-Australian engineer who was the last American to live aboard Russia's Mir station and has spent the past nine months assisting the families of the Columbia crew; Wendy Lawrence, a Navy captain who flew twice to Mir; and Charles Camarda, a space rookie who has been involved with repair activities at Johnson Space Center in Houston.

They join Eileen Collins, NASA's first and only female shuttle commander, and pilot James Kelly, both Air Force officers; Stephen Robinson, an engineer who flew with John Glenn in 1998; and Japanese astronaut Soichi Noguchi, a space rookie.

The mission ``is going to be a complex developmental test flight, and this crew has the right set of skills and experience to help get the space shuttles safely flying again,'' said Bill Readdy, NASA's top spaceflight official.

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On the Net:

NASA: http://www.nasa.gov

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