July 16, 2008

Allard Beutel Kennedy Space Center, Fla 321-867-2468 allard beutel@nasa gov

John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 john yembrick-1@nasa gov

Kylie Clem Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kylie s clem@nasa gov

RELEASE: 08-176

NASA ASSIGNS CREW FOR EQUIPMENT DELIVERY MISSION TO SPACE STATION

WASHINGTON - NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-128 The flight will carry science and storage racks to the International Space Station

Marine Corps Col Frederick W "Rick" Sturckow will command space shuttle Atlantis on the STS-128 mission, targeted for launch July 30, 2009 Retired Air Force Col Kevin A Ford will serve as the pilot Mission specialists are NASA astronauts John D "Danny" Olivas, retired Army Col Patrick G Forrester, Jose M Hernandez and European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Christer Fuglesang The mission will deliver a new station crew member, Nicole Stott, to the complex and return Tim Kopra to Earth Ford, Hernandez and Stott will be making their first trips to space Stott and Kopra were previously assigned in February to station missions

Atlantis will carry a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module filled with science and storage racks to the station The mission will include three spacewalks to remove and replace a materials processing experiment outside ESA's Columbus module and return an empty ammonia tank assembly

Sturckow flew as the commander of STS-117 in 2007, and was the pilot of STS-105 in 2001 and STS-88 in 1998 He considers Lakeside, Calif , his hometown Sturckow has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University He was selected as an astronaut in 1994

Ford considers Montpelier, Ind , his hometown He has a bachelor's in aerospace engineering from the University of Notre Dame, master's degrees in international relations from Troy State University in Alabama and aerospace engineering from the University of Florida, and a doctorate in astronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology He was selected as an astronaut in 2000

Olivas flew as a mission specialist and conducted two spacewalks during STS-117 in 2007 He was raised in El Paso, Texas Olivas has a bachelor's in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas-El Paso, a master's in mechanical engineering from the University of Houston and a doctorate in mechanical engineering and materials science from Rice University He was selected as an astronaut in 1998

Forrester flew as a mission specialist on STS-117 in 2007 and on STS-105 in 2001 He has conducted four spacewalks He was born in El Paso, Texas Forrester has a bachelor's in applied sciences and engineering from the U S Military Academy and a master's in mechanical and aerospace engineering from the University of Virginia He was selected as an astronaut in 1996

Hernandez considers Stockton, Calif , his hometown He has a bachelor's in electrical engineering from the University of the Pacific and a master's in electrical and computer engineering from the University of California-Santa Barbara He was selected as an astronaut in 2004

Fuglesang flew as a mission specialist and conducted three spacewalks on STS-116 in 2006 He was born in Stockholm, Sweden Fuglesang has a master's in engineering physics from the Royal Institute of Technology and a doctorate in experimental particle physics from the University of Stockholm He was selected to join the ESA astronaut corps in 1992 and began training at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston in 1996

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

-end-

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