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FACTBOX: The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis

Mon May 11, 2009 11:43pm IST
 
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(Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Atlantis lifted off on Monday for an 11-day mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, where the seven-member crew planned to install and repair instruments, replace gyroscopes and refurbish other systems.

Here are brief profiles of the astronauts:

*Shuttle Commander Scott Altman - A 49-year-old retired U.S. Navy captain from Pekin, Illinois, who is married with three children. Flew F-14A Tomcat jets in deployments to the western Pacific and Indian Ocean, served as strike leader in southern Iraq. Veteran of three spaceflights including 2002 servicing mission to Hubble Space Telescope. Nickname "Scooter."

*Pilot Gregory C. Johnson - A 54-year-old retired U.S. Navy captain from Seattle, Washington, who is married with five children. Has logged over 9,000 hours in 50 aircraft with over 500 carrier landings. Served as aerospace engineer and research pilot with NASA, now making his first spaceflight. Nickname "Ray Jay."

*Mission specialist, spacewalker Michael Good - A 46-year-old U.S. Air Force colonel from Broadview Heights, Ohio, who is married with three children. Holds masters degree in aerospace engineering. Served as test flight engineer for Cruise missile program, test pilot for B-2 Stealth bomber. Making his first spaceflight. Nickname "Bueno."

*Mission specialist, robot-arm operator Megan McArthur - A 37-year-old oceanographer born in Honolulu, Hawaii, who recently married astronaut Robert Behnken. Holds degrees in aerospace engineering, Ph.D in oceanography. Led diving research missions at Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Making her first spaceflight.

*Mission specialist, spacewalker John Grunsfeld - A 50-year-old astronomer and physicist from Chicago who is married with two children. Joined NASA in 1992 and has made four previous spaceflights, including the last two missions to service Hubble observatory. Plans to use the telescope for a study to analyze a crater on the moon in ultraviolet light.

*Mission specialist, spacewalker Michael Massimino - A 46-year-old engineer from Franklin Square, New York, who is married with two children. Holds Ph.D in mechanical engineering from MIT, where he researched space robotics systems and was awarded two patents. Flew with Altman and Grunsfeld on the last servicing call to Hubble in 2002. Making his second spaceflight.

*Mission specialist, spacewalker Andrew Feustel - A 43-year-old geologist from Lake Orion, Michigan, who is married with two children. Holds Ph.D in geological sciences from Purdue University. Joined NASA in 2000 after working as a seismologist for ExxonMobil. Making his first spaceflight.  Continued...

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