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Expedition 11 crew members chosen

Veteran NASA astronaut John Phillips and seasoned Russian Cosmonaut Sergei Krikalev are the next crew of the International Space Station. Their six month mission is set for launch in April 2005.

Krikalev will serve as Station Commander, and Phillips is Flight Engineer and NASA International Space Station Science Officer. Designated Expedition 11, they will be on board the Station when the Space Shuttle makes its first Return to Flight mission. The Shuttle is scheduled to dock with the Space Station in May 2005. Here are their bios.

John L. Phillips
NASA Astronaut

Born April 15, 1951 in Fort Belvoir, Virginia and graduated from Scottsdale High School, Scottsdale, Arizona, in 1966; received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and Russian from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972; master of science degrees and a doctorate from the University of West Florida and University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Phillips received a navy commission upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1972 and was designated a Naval Aviator in November, 1974.

After leaving the Navy in 1982, Phillips enrolled as a graduate student at UCLA. While at UCLA he carried out research involving observations by the NASA Pioneer Venus Spacecraft. From 1993 through 1996 he was Principal Investigator for the Solar Wind Plasma Experiment aboard the Ulysses Spacecraft as it executed a unique trajectory over the poles of the sun.

Phillips has logged over 4,400 flight hours and 250 carrier landings.

Selected by NASA in April 1996 he flew aboard STS-100 in 2001, logging nearly 12 days and 5 million miles in space. STS-100 crew successfully delivered and installed the Canadarm-2 Robotic Arm.

Sergei Konstantinovich Krikalev
Russian Cosmonaut

Born August 27, 1958 and graduated from high school in 1975; in 1981, received mechanical engineering degree from the Leningrad Mechanical Institute, now called St. Petersburg Technical University.

He was a member of the Russian and Soviet national aerobatic flying teams and Champion of the Soviet Union in 1986. For his space flight experience, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the Order of Lenin, the French title of L’Officier de la L’egion d’Honneur, and the new title of Hero of Russia. He also has been awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal (1994, 1998).

After graduation in 1981, he joined NPO Energia, the Russian industrial organization responsible for manned space flight activities. He tested space flight equipment, developed space operations methods, and participated in ground control operations.

Krikalev was selected as a cosmonaut in 1985. Krikalev flew aboard the Mir Space Station in 1988-89, 1991-92 and the International Space Station in 2000-01. He flew aboard the Shuttle on the first joint U.S.-Russian mission, STS-60 in 1994, and on the first International Space Station assembly mission, STS-88 in 1998. Krikalev has accumulated 625 days in space. At the completion of a six-month stay aboard the Station on Expedition 11, Krikalev will have spent more time in space than any other person.

The Expedition 11 backup crewmembers are astronaut Daniel Tani and cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin.

posted by: kyawoo at 20:43 | link | comments |
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