Meet Columbia's Crew

Commander: Scott Altman

Scott D. Altman (pictured, left), 42, a Navy commander, former test pilot, and veteran of two spaceflights, will command Columbia's STS-109 flight to the Hubble Space Telescope and be responsible for the mission's safety and success.

He will fly Columbia through its rendezvous and capture of the space telescope on the 108th flight of the space shuttle program, and will fly the shuttle during Hubble's release. He will be one of the three robotic-arm operators on board Columbia. He will have primary responsibility for Earth observations, and will share responsibilities for the shuttle's guidance and navigation systems, computer systems and life-support systems. He will land Columbia at the end of the mission.

Altman was the pilot on STS-90, the 16-day Neurolab mission in April and May of 1998. He also was the pilot on STS-106 in September 2000, a mission to prepare the International Space Station for the arrival of the Expedition One crew.

Pilot: Duane Carey

An Air Force lieutenant colonel and, like his commander, a former test pilot, Duane G. "Digger" Carey (pictured, right), 44, holds a master's degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Minnesota-Minneapolis.

He will be responsible for a number of orbiter systems during ascent and landing. He will assist his commander in rendezvous, capture and later release of the Hubble Space Telescope. Other responsibilities include orchestrating the photographic and videographic documentation of the mission.

Carey will also be one of two medics aboard Columbia. He was selected as an astronaut in 1996 and is making his first space flight.

Mission Specialist 1: John Grunsfeld

John M. Grunsfeld (pictured, left), 43, is the payload commander on STS-109 and is responsible for the payload operations and execution of the flight's five spacewalks.

He holds a doctorate degree in physics from the University of Chicago, and served on the faculty of the California Institute of Technology, where he did research in high-energy astrophysics and astronomy. He is making his second visit to service the Hubble Space Telescope.

He and Richard Linnehan will be one of two spacewalking teams that will alternate on consecutive days to make a total of five spacewalks to repair and upgrade the space telescope. Grunsfeld will make three spacewalks with Linnehan. They will serve as coordinators on the mission's other two spacewalks.

Grunsfeld will also serve as ascent mission specialist and have responsibilities for opening and closing Columbia's payload bay door, computers and extravehicular activity tools.

Grunsfeld, who was selected as an astronaut in 1992, is a veteran of three space flights. He first flew on STS-67, the second flight of the Astro observatory, a flight dedicated to astronomy research in March 1995, which operated a suite of ultraviolet telescopes. He was a mission specialist on STS-81, a 10-day mission to the Russian space station Mir in January 1997, which also included a suite of experiments for biological research. On the STS-103 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope in December 1999, he performed two spacewalks.

Mission Specialist 2: Nancy Currie

Selected as an astronaut in January 1990, Nancy Jane Currie (pictured, right), 43, earned a doctorate degree in industrial engineering from the University of Houston and is an Army lieutenant colonel. She served as a helicopter instructor pilot and is a Master Army Aviator.

She accumulated over 4,000 flying hours in rotary and fixed-wing aircraft. She was robotic-arm operator during STS-88, the first International Space Station assembly mission, and will be at the controls of Columbia's robotic arm during STS-109 capture and redeployment of the Hubble Space Telescope, and during the five spacewalks to repair and upgrade it.

She will also have responsibilities as the flight engineer aboard Columbia. Currie is a veteran of three space flights, serving as a mission specialist and flight engineer on all of them.

STS-57, in June of 1993 featured Spacehab microgravity experiments and return of the European Retrievable Carrier satellite. STS-70, in July 1995 deployed a NASA tracking and data relay satellite. STS-88, in December 1998 brought the first U.S. element, the unity node, to the space station.

Mission Specialist 3: Richard Linnehan

Richard M. Linnehan (pictured, left), 44, a doctor of veterinary medicine, was selected as an astronaut in 1992 after service in the Army Veterinary Corps. Much of his service was with the Naval Ocean Systems Center in San Diego, where he served as chief clinical veterinarian for the Navy's Marine Mammal Program.

On STS-109, he will team with Grunsfeld to do three spacewalks. He will be a coordinator for the flight's other two spacewalks. During the rendezvous, he will operate a handheld laser range-finding device, aiming it through the shuttle windows at the Hubble Space Telescope to provide Altman with supplementary distance and closing rate information.

Other responsibilities include opening and closing of Columbia's payload bay doors, serving as one of two medics on board, and serving as entry mission specialist.

Linnehan has served as a mission specialist on two space flights. His first flight was STS-78, a 17-day Spacelab life sciences and microgravity studies mission in June and July 1996. He also flew on STS-90, the 16-day Neurolab mission in April and May 1998.

Mission Specialist 4: James Newman

James H. Newman (pictured, right) holds a doctorate in physics from Rice University and is a veteran of three spaceflights and four spacewalks.

After graduation from Rice, he did a year of postdoctoral studies there in atomic and molecular physics. Then in 1985, he was named a Rice adjunct professor. That year he also began work at Johnson Space Center in crew and flight control team training in propulsion systems. He was named an astronaut in 1990.

On STS-109, Newman will perform two spacewalks and be a coordinator for the mission's other three spacewalks. He is also responsible for postinsertion coordination and the on-board laptop computers.

Newman first flew on STS-51, a 10-day flight in September 1993, which deployed the advanced communications technology satellite and the orbiting and retrievable far and extreme ultraviolet spectrometer on the SPAS satellite. STS-69 was an 11-day mission in September 1995 that deployed and retrieved a SPARTAN satellite and the wake shield facility. In December 1998, Newman performed three spacewalks on STS-88-2A, a 12-day mission that was the first assembly flight for the International Space Station.

Mission Specialist 5: Michael Massimino

Michael J. Massimino (pictured, left), 39, received a doctorate in mechanical engineering in 1992 from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where his work on human-operator-controlled space robotics systems resulted in two patents.

After graduation, he worked for McDonnell Douglas Aerospace in Houston and also served for three years as an assistant adjunct professor at Rice University. He became an assistant professor at Georgia Institute of Technology in 1995 and was selected as an astronaut in 1996.

He will make two of the mission's spacewalks with Newman and serve as a coordinator of the other three. He will also have backup robotic arm responsibilities.

Massimino is making his first space flight.