STS-109

Scott Altman

• Birthday: 08/15/1959
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 04/17/1998
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

Scott Douglas “Scooter” Altman is a retired United States Navy Captain, engineer, test pilot and former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of four Space Shuttle missions. His fourth mission on STS-125 was the last servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope.

Duane G. Carey

• Birthday: 04/30/1957
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/01/2002
• Last Flight: 03/01/2002

Duane Gene “Digger” Carey is a retired lieutenant colonel in the United States Air Force and a former NASA astronaut.

Mike Massimino

• Birthday: 08/19/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/01/2002
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

Michael James Massimino is an American professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia University and a former NASA astronaut. He is the senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.

Early life Massimino was born August 19, 1962 in Oceanside, New York, and raised in Franklin Square, New York, both on Long Island. He graduated from H. Frank Carey Junior-Senior High School in Franklin Square, New York in 1980. He went on to attend Columbia University, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering in 1984. He then attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating with a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Science degree in Technology and Public Policy in 1988. He continued his education at MIT, earning a Degree of Mechanical Engineer in 1990 and a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1992.

James H. Newman

• Birthday: 10/16/1956
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 09/12/1993
• Last Flight: 03/01/2002

James Hansen Newman, Ph.D. is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut who flew on four Space Shuttle missions.

Nancy J. Currie-Gregg

• Birthday: 12/29/1958
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 06/21/1993
• Last Flight: 03/01/2002

Nancy Jane Currie-Gregg is an engineer, United States Army officer and a NASA astronaut. Currie-Gregg has served in the United States Army for over 22 years and holds the rank of colonel. With NASA, she has participated in four space shuttle missions: STS-57, STS-70, STS-88, and STS109, accruing 1,000 hours in space. She currently holds an appointment as an adjunct associate professor in the Department of Industrial & Systems Engineering at Texas A&M University.

Richard M. Linnehan

• Birthday: 09/19/1957
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 06/20/1996
• Last Flight: 03/11/2008

Richard Michael Linnehan is an American veterinarian and a former NASA astronaut.

John M. Grunsfeld

• Birthday: 10/10/1958
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: American
• First Flight: 03/02/1995
• Last Flight: 05/11/2009

John Mace Grunsfeld is an American physicist and a former NASA astronaut. He is a veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and has served as NASA Chief Scientist. His academic background includes research in high energy astrophysics, cosmic ray physics and the emerging field of exoplanet studies with specific interest in future astronomical instrumentation. After retiring from NASA in 2009, he served as the Deputy Director of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland. In January 2012, he returned to NASA and served as associate administrator of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD). Grunsfeld announced his retirement from NASA in April 2016.

STS-109

• Type: Astrophysics
• Orbit: Low Earth Orbit
• Launch Cost: $450,000,000

STS-109 (SM3B) was a Space Shuttle mission that launched from the Kennedy Space Center on 1 March 2002. It was the 108th mission of the Space Shuttle program, the 27th flight of the orbiter Columbia and the fourth servicing of the Hubble Space Telescope. It was also the last successful mission of the orbiter Columbia before the ill-fated STS-107 mission, which culminated in the Columbia disaster.

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 174 rockets, including 173 orbital launch attempts, while Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 232 rocket launches.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Space Shuttle

The Space Shuttle is a retired, partially reusable low Earth orbital spacecraft system operated from 1981 to 2011 by the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) as part of the Space Shuttle program. Its official program name was Space Transportation System (STS). Five complete Space Shuttle orbiter vehicles were built and flown on a total of 135 missions from 1981 to 2011.

United Space Alliance

United Space Alliance (USA) is a spaceflight operations company. USA is a joint venture which was established in August 1995 as a Limited Liability Company (LLC), equally owned by Boeing and Lockheed Martin.