posted 01-11-2008 11:26 AM               

There is also a whole crew posted on the forums but so far only Polansky is confirmed.

The possible crew, originally posted on the polish website "Loty kosmiczne".

Rumored STS-127 crew:

• Mark L. Polansky, CDR
  
• Douglas G. Hurley, PLT
  
• David A. Wolf, MS
  
• Julie Payette, MS
  
• Christopher J. Cassidy, MS
  
• Thomas H. Marshburn, MS
  
• Timothy L. Kopra, MS/ISS

posted 01-11-2008 11:56 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by kimmern123:
...but so far only Polansky is confirmed.

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posted 01-15-2008 11:42 AM               

quote:

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Originally posted by kimmern123:
David A. Wolf, MS

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"It's got to be a pretty interesting mission to send him," said retired Lt. Col. John Egan, an old friend of Wolf's who lives in Riley and still keeps in regular contact with his astronaut friend. "This is not just your normal kid."

Wolf, now serving as director of spacewalks for NASA in Houston, called Egan early Thursday morning to let him know of the upcoming mission.

posted 02-11-2008 12:25 PM               

NASA Assigns Crews for STS-127 and Expedition 19 Missions

NASA has assigned crews for the STS-127 space shuttle mission and the Expedition 19 International Space Station mission. The STS-127 mission will deliver the final components of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency's Kibo laboratory to the station. Expedition 19 will double the size of the resident crew on the complex, expanding it to six people.

Mark L. Polansky will command the shuttle Endeavour for STS-127, targeted to launch in 2009. Marine Corps Lt. Col. Douglas G. Hurley will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists are Navy Lt. Cmdr. Christopher J. Cassidy, Thomas H. Marshburn, David A. Wolf and Julie Payette, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut.

The mission will deliver Army Col. Timothy L. Kopra to the station to join Expedition 18 as a flight engineer and science officer and return Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata to Earth. Hurley, Cassidy, Marshburn and Kopra will be making their first trips to space.

STS-127 will launch and install the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module Exposed Facility and Experiment Logistics Module Exposed Section. The facility will provide a type of "front porch" for experiments in the exposed environment, and a robotic arm that will be attached to the Kibo Pressurized Module and used to position experiments outside the station. The mission will include five spacewalks.

Polansky first flew as pilot of STS-98 in 2001 and then commanded STS-116 in 2006. He considers Edison, N.J., his hometown. Polansky has bachelor's and master's degrees from Purdue University.

Hurley considers Apalachin, N.Y., his hometown. He has a bachelor's from Tulane University, New Orleans.

Cassidy considers York, Maine, his hometown and has a bachelor's from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master's from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

Born in Statesville, N.C., Marshburn has a bachelor's from Davidson College, Davidson, N.C., master's degrees from the University of Virginia and the University of Texas Medical Branch, and a doctorate of medicine from Wake Forest University.

A native of Indianapolis, Wolf will be making his fourth spaceflight. He first flew on STS-58 in 1993. He next flew a 128-day mission to the Russian space station Mir, launching aboard STS-86 in September 1997 and landing on STS-89 in January 1998. His third flight was on STS-112 in 2002. Wolf has a bachelor's from Purdue University and a doctorate of medicine from Indiana University.

Payette, born in Montreal, flew as a mission specialist on STS-96 in 1999. She has an International Baccalaureate from the United World College of the Atlantic in the United Kingdom, a bachelor's from McGill University and a master's from the University of Toronto.

Kopra is a native of Austin, Texas, and holds a bachelor's from the U.S. Military Academy and a master's from Georgia Institute of Technology.

posted 02-11-2008 02:16 PM               

Canadian astronauts Julie Payette and Robert Thirsk to go on space missions in 2009

The Honourable Jim Prentice, Minister of Industry and Minister responsible for the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), today announced that two Canadian Space Agency astronauts would be taking part in space missions to the International Space Station in 2009.

"Guided by our Science and Technology Strategy, we are investing in talented, skilled and creative Canadians like Julie Payette and Dr. Robert Thirsk who have dedicated their professional lives in the service of discovery," said Minister Prentice. "Canadians can be proud of our contributions to space exploration and excited by the new chapters that will be written by our Canadian Astronauts in these upcoming missions."

Julie Payette will be on the Space Shuttle Endeavour for mission STS-127, with launch planned for April 2009. During mission STS-127, the crew will deliver the last elements of the Kibo laboratory contributed by the Japanese space agency, JAXA, to the International Space Station. The components are the external experiment module and its space platform. The Space Shuttle's six astronauts will take part in the mission. Julie Payette will serve as a mission specialist.

This will be Julie Payette's second mission in space and onboard the International Space Station--she took part in the STS-96 mission on board the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1999.

In May 2009, Dr. Robert Thirsk will be taking part in Expedition 19, becoming the first Canadian to remain on the International Space Station for a long stay, living there for 4 to 6 months. He will also be a member of the crew for the transition to a team of six astronauts living together continuously aboard the Station.

Since 2000, the Station has been inhabited permanently, and the astronauts and cosmonauts occupying it change upon the arrival of crew replacements. Robert Thirsk will fly to the ISS aboard a Soyuz craft that will be launched from Baikonour, in Kazahkstan.

Dr. Thirsk took part in mission STS-78, in 1996, on board the Space Shuttle Columbia, serving as a payload specialist.

About the CSA

Established in 1989, the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) is responsible for co-ordinating, on behalf of the Government of Canada, all civil programs and policies in the space field. There are four main thrusts for CSA activities: Earth observation, space exploration and science, satellite telecommunications, and space awareness and learning. The CSA leverages international collaboration to promote industrial development and world-class scientific research for the benefit of humanity.