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KSC-06PD-1401 (07/04/2006) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – Getting ready for a third launch attempt on mission STS-121, Mission Specialist Stephanie Wilson is suiting up before heading to Launch Pad 39B. The July 2 launch attempt was scrubbed due to the presence of showers and thunderstorms within the surrounding area of the launch site. The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 is the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim ShiflettKSC-06PD-1403 (07/04/2006) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – Prior to the third launch attempt on mission STS-121, Commander Steven Lindsey looks thoughtful as he completes suiting up before heading to Launch Pad 39B. The July 2 launch attempt was scrubbed due to the presence of showers and thunderstorms within the surrounding area of the launch site. The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 is the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim ShiflettKSC-06PD-1400 (07/04/2006) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – STS-121 Commander Steven Lindsey is eager for a third launch attempt on the mission. Here, he is donning his launch suit before heading to Launch Pad 39B. The July 2 launch attempt was scrubbed due to the presence of showers and thunderstorms within the surrounding area of the launch site. The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 is the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International SpaKSC-06PD-1399 (07/04/2006) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – STS-121 Mission Specialist Lisa Nowak is helped with her boots during suitup before heading to Launch Pad 39B and a third launch attempt. The July 2 launch attempt was scrubbed due to the presence of showers and thunderstorms within the surrounding area of the launch site. The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 is the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim ShiflettKSC-06PD-1402 (07/04/2006) --- KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLA. – Prior to the third launch attempt on mission STS-121, Pilot Mark Kelly fixes his glove during suitup before heading to Launch Pad 39B. The July 2 launch attempt was scrubbed due to the presence of showers and thunderstorms within the surrounding area of the launch site. The launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-121 is the 115th shuttle flight and the 18th U.S. flight to the International Space Station. During the 12-day mission, the STS-121 crew will test new equipment and procedures to improve shuttle safety, as well as deliver supplies and make repairs to the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA/Kim ShiflettNational Aeronautics and Space Administration John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 321-867-7819 FOR RELEASE: 04/05/2005 PHOTO NO: KSC-05PD-2561Space shuttle Discovery is on the launch pad, awaiting its flight this summer for the STS-121 mission. The first launch in almost a year, STS-121 will continue NASA's efforts to make the shuttle safer than ever. During the 25 years since the first space shuttle launch, NASA has continued to improve the shuttles, upgrading them with new capabilities and more advanced technology. Following the loss of the STS-107 crew and space shuttle Columbia in February 2003, improvements have focused largely on the safety of the space shuttle fleet. Last year's STS-114 Return to Flight mission tested changes to a variety of elements of the shuttle program -- from the robotic arm on the orbiter to the cameras that capture the launch.For almost a year NASA engineers have worked to make additional improvements to the shuttle, based on the data obtained during the STS-114 mission. Now, the agency is about to witness the fruits of that labor, when the STS-121 mission launches this summer.Like last year's STS-114 mission, the focus of STS-121 will be to further test the safety improvements that have been made to the shuttle. Among those are new modifications to the shuttle's external tank that are intended to reduce the shedding of foam during launch. Also like last year's flight, the shuttle Discovery will carry supplies to the International Space Station.Included in the delivery to the ISS will be one very important piece of "cargo" -- astronaut Thomas Reiter of the European Space Agency. Reiter will join Expedition 13 crewmembers Pavel Vinogradov and Jeff Williams, currently aboard the station, to become the first ESA astronaut to make a long-duration stay there. (Until now, all ISS crewmembers have represented NASA or the Russian Federal Space Agency, Roscosmos.) This will be the first time the station has been home to a three-person crew since Expedition 6 returned to Earth in May 2003. Steve Lindsey is commander of the mission, making his fourth spaceflight. Mark Kelly is the pilot. Rounding out the STS-121 crew are mission specialists Mike Fossum, Stephanie Wilson, Piers Sellers and Lisa Nowak. Fossum, Wilson and Nowak are all making their first spaceflight.Two spacewalks are scheduled for the mission. During the spacewalks, the crew will test the new boom extension of the shuttle's robotic arm and perform maintenance on the Mobile Transporter, a movable base for the station's robotic arm. If time is available, the crew will also perform a third spacewalk, during which they will test additional shuttle safety techniques.STS-121's mission of continuing the effort to return the shuttle fleet safely to flight is the next step in the Vision for Space Exploration, which will see humans return to the moon, and then explore onward to Mars and beyond.NASA or National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationJOHNSON SPACE CENTER, TEXAS -- JSC2005-E-16260 -- Official portrait of astronaut Michael E. Fossum, mission specialistNational Aeronautics and Space Administration John F. Kennedy Space Center Kennedy Space Center, Florida 32899 321-867-7819 FOR RELEASE: 01/04/2005President Addresses Nation on Space Shuttle Columbia TragedyTHE PRESIDENT: My fellow Americans, this day has brought terrible news and great sadness to our country. At 9:00 a.m. this morning, Mission Control in Houston lost contact with our Space Shuttle Columbia. A short time later, debris was seen falling from the skies above Texas. The Columbia is lost; there are no survivors. On board was a crew of seven: Colonel Rick Husband; Lt. Colonel Michael Anderson; Commander Laurel Clark; Captain David Brown; Commander William McCool; Dr. Kalpana Chawla; and Ilan Ramon, a Colonel in the Israeli Air Force. These men and women assumed great risk in the service to all humanity. In an age when space flight has come to seem almost routine, it is easy to overlook the dangers of travel by rocket, and the difficulties of navigating the fierce outer atmosphere of the Earth. These astronauts knew the dangers, and they faced them willingly, knowing they had a high and noble purpose in life. Because of their courage and daring and idealism, we will miss them all the more. All Americans today are thinking, as well, of the families of these men and women who have been given this sudden shock and grief. You're not alone. Our entire nation grieves with you. And those you loved will always have the respect and gratitude of this country. The cause in which they died will continue. Mankind is led into the darkness beyond our world by the inspiration of discovery and the longing to understand. Our journey into space will go on. In the skies today we saw destruction and tragedy. Yet farther than we can see there is comfort and hope. In the words of the prophet Isaiah, "Lift your eyes and look to the heavens. Who created all these? He who brings out the starry hosts one by one and calls them each by name. Because of His great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing." The same Creator who names the stars also knows the names of the seven souls we mourn today. The crew of the shuttle Columbia did not return safely to Earth; yet we can pray that all are safely home. May God bless the grieving families, and may God continue to bless America.
