[sarex] ENDEAVOUR TO LAUNCH MAY 30, CONTINUE STATION ASSEMBLY, BRING HOME VETERAN CREW

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From: NASANews@hq.nasa.gov
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Submitted by Arthur - N1ORC

Kyle Herring
Headquarters, Washington             May 17, 2002
(Phone: 202/358-4504)

Bill Johnson
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
(Phone: 321/867-2468)

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

RELEASE: 02-93

ENDEAVOUR TO LAUNCH MAY 30, CONTINUE STATION ASSEMBLY, 
BRING HOME VETERAN CREW

     Launch of Space Shuttle Endeavour to the International 
Space Station (ISS) has been set for May 30 on a flight that 
will bring to a close the longest stay yet aboard the complex 
for a resident crew.

Endeavour's liftoff on mission STS-111 will occur sometime 
between 4 and 8 p.m. EDT. A precise time will be announced 
about 24 hours prior to liftoff. In addition to exchanging 
station crews, Endeavour's multinational mission will attach 
a Canadian-built mobile base system to the station that will 
enable the Canadarm2 robotic arm to move along a railway on 
the station's truss to build and maintain the outpost. 
Endeavour's crew -- representing three different countries -- 
also will replace a faulty joint on the station's robotic arm 
and unload almost three tons of experiments and supplies from 
the Italian-built Leonardo logistics carrier, making its 
third visit to the station aboard the shuttle.

"The team has done a great job preparing this flight and 
accommodating a major addition to this mission's content that 
came only last month -- the replacement of a joint on the 
station's robotic arm," Space Shuttle Program Manager Ron 
Dittemore said. "The capability to plan, train and prepare 
equipment for such a complex new task in only a few extra 
weeks demonstrates the flexibility required for support of 
the station. Thanks to those efforts, Endeavour is ready to 
go."

The International Space Station's Expedition Four crew, 
Commander Yury Onufrienko and Flight Engineers Dan Bursch and 
Carl Walz, on the station since Dec. 7, 2001, will return to 
Earth aboard Endeavour. The Expedition Five crew, Commander 
Valery Korzun and Flight Engineers Peggy Whitson and Sergei 
Treschev, will arrive at the complex aboard Endeavour, 
beginning a four-month stay.

Ken Cockrell will command Endeavour, and Paul Lockhart (Lt. 
Col. USAF) will serve as pilot. Mission specialists will be 
Franklin Chang-Diaz (Ph.D.) and French Space Agency astronaut 
Philippe Perrin (Col., French Air Force). Chang-Diaz and 
Perrin will conduct three spacewalks to install the new 
robotics mobile-base system and replace the faulty arm 
wrist/roll joint. Chang-Diaz will be making a record-tying 
seventh flight aboard the Space Shuttle.

Endeavour is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center, 
Fla., on June 11. STS-111 marks the 18th flight for Endeavour 
and the 110th in Space Shuttle history.

                        -end-

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