posted 03-07-2008 01:07 AM               

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Sununu Announces NASA Honor For New Hampshire

United States Senator John Sununu (R-NH) today (3/6) announced that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will honor New Hampshire during Tuesday's (3/11) launch of the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. A member of the Endeavour crew, Mission Specialist Rick Linnehan, attended high school and college in New Hampshire.

NASA will honor New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Louisiana by flying all four state flags at the launch site Tuesday. Senator Sununu provided NASA with the New Hampshire state flag.

"As NASA prepares to retire the Space Shuttle by 2010, the agency will honor all fifty states during future launches," said Sununu. "Besides Dr. Linnehan's historic ties to New Hampshire, our state is also the birthplace of astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space. It is appropriate for NASA to recognize New Hampshire's contributions to the space program, and I was pleased to provide the state flag that will fly at the Kennedy Space Center on Tuesday."

The Endeavour launch to the International Space Station is scheduled for Tuesday morning at 2:28 a.m. The STS-123 mission crew will deliver the first section of a Japanese-built Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency's two-armed Dextre robotic system.

The international Endeavour crew includes Dr. Linnehan, who attended Alvirne High School in Hudson, graduated from Pelham High School, and graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Sciences with a minor in Microbiology. A veteran of three previous space flights, Dr. Linnehan has logged over 43 days in space and three spacewalks.

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