**The most comprehensive collection of STS-117 onwards related presentions and mission documentation are <\/em>available to download on L2<\/em> <\/em>**<\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Atlantis STS-117 PAD Flow**<\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Endeavour STS-118 (LON-318) Processing**<\/em><\/p>\n **LIVE news updates on Discovery STS-122 (LON-322) Processing**<\/em><\/font> Breaking Global Flight Crew Assignements Update Pages, PRCB: Baseline STS-124 (ISS-1J) Flight Definition and Requirements Directive (FDRD) \u2013 Mission Overview, STS-124: Addition of a 7th Crewmember Presentation, Latest STS Flight Manifests. Latest ISS Memos \u2013 all available on L2.<\/em><\/font><\/p>\n Joining Ham and Kelly are Ronald J. Garan, Stephen J. Bowen, Karen L. Nyberg and Michael E. Fossum. Rounding out the crew will be Japanese mission specialist Akihiko Hoshide. <\/font><\/p>\n STS-124 was originally planned to carry a six-member crew. In order to add a seventh member to the roster, the planned ISS docking altitude was lowered and some of JAXA\u2019s middeck cargo items were off-loaded to a preceding flight. <\/font><\/p>\n The composition of this crew clearly reflects the Flight Crew Operations Directorate\u2019s obvious intention to give as many rookies as possible a chance for a flight, before the STS program ends in 2010. Ham, Garan, Bowen, Nyberg, and Hoshide are all first-time flyers from various classes of astronaut candidates. Hoshide is the first from the 2004 group to get a seat on the shuttle.<\/font><\/p>\n The status of STS-124 pilot Ken Ham has been the subject of much discussion in the past. Before the STS-107 tragedy, he was supposed to fly with Pamela A. Melroy on the ULF-2 mission. However, due to the shake-up of crew assignments following the loss of Columbia, Ham was not considered for a mission \u2013 until now. <\/font><\/p>\n His wife, Linda, was among a group of senior NASA engineers indirectly blamed for jinxing requests for satellite photos of Columbia\u2019s damaged wing during the doomed STS-107 mission, and at the time there was even word Ken Ham might resign from NASA and leave Houston in order to be with his family. <\/font><\/p>\n Also noteworthy is Garan\u2019s assignment as mission specialist. He was originally selected as a pilot astronaut in 2000. Reminiscent of what happened to David S. Griggs and Steven R. Nagel in 1985, both pilot astronauts made their first trips into space as mission specialists on satellite deployment missions 51-D and 51-G, respectively. <\/font><\/p>\n Although no specific rationale was given back then, Nagel believed this move was to generate early flight opportunities for unflown pilot astronauts awaiting assignments at that time \u2013 obviously a parallel to the current situation. <\/font><\/p>\n Both Garan and Nyberg served as Aquanauts on the NEEMO-9 and NEEMO-10 missions, respectively, to the Aquarius undersea lab. NEEMO is a joint project of NASA and NOAA. Bowen also has some sub-surface experience, as he became first Executive Officer aboard a U.S. Navy submarine shortly before being accepted into the astronaut program. <\/font><\/p>\n Although Hoshide did not join the ranks of international members in NASA\u2019s astronaut corps before the year 2004, he was selected as an astronaut by NASDA in 1999 and even completed Soyuz-TMA flight engineer training in Russia. <\/font><\/p>\n The only veterans of the mission, Kelly and Fossum, were crew mates on STS-121 last year. Kelly was pilot of that mission. He also flew on a space station utilization flight in 2001, STS-108. <\/font><\/p>\n The seven members of the STS-124 crew will get a chance to make their mark in spaceflight history as their sortie can be considered a milestone mission. The delivery of the Kibo lab will bring the ISS a giant leap towards completion, and further Japanese items may be included as part of the 2J\/A launch package. **INFINITY: 10 minute STS MUSIC VIDEO**<\/font><\/em><\/font> \u2013 **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/em><\/font><\/em> <\/font><\/em><\/p>\n <\/font><\/em><\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Although the launch date for STS-124 may change pending outcome of the hail damage drama surrounding the current flight, a seven-member crew has been assigned \u2013 according to NASA memos acquired by this site this week and now confirmed by the agency \u2013 to what is expected to become the second shuttle mission of 2008. 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\n<\/font><\/p>\n<\/font>**Ride home through the fire and plasma of re-entry with Atlantis on STS-115 \u2013 And now also with Discovery on STS-116 \u2013 TWO Stunning high quality 2hr, 355mb videos \u2013 from deorbit burn to post landing**<\/font><\/font> <\/p>\n
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<\/em>(Video section is FREE, but you need to sign up as a member of the forum to enter the video section of the site. We only use your e-mail to send you your password. It will not be used for spam etc.)<\/em><\/font><\/em><\/p>\n
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