STS-109

Scott Altman

• Birthday: 08/15/1959
• Role: Commander
• Nationality: United States of America
• 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 astron...

Duane G. Carey

• Birthday: 04/30/1957
• Role: Pilot
• Nationality: United States of America
• 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 astronau...

Mike Massimino

• Birthday: 08/19/1962
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• 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...

James H. Newman

• Birthday: 10/16/1956
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• 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: United States of America
• 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 Unite...

Richard M. Linnehan

• Birthday: 09/19/1957
• Role: Mission Specialist
• Nationality: United States of America
• 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: United States of America
• 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 h...

Mission

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.

Location

Launch Complex 39A

Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA

Find the best place to watch the launch from Florida

Launch Complex 39A has witnessed the launch of 208 rockets, including 207 orbital launch attempts. While Kennedy Space Center, FL, USA, has been the site for 266 rocket launches.

The John F. Kennedy Space Center, located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of NASA's ten field centers. Since 1968, KSC has been NASA's primary launch center of American spaceflight, research, and technology. Launch operations for the Apollo, Skylab and Space Shuttle programs were carried out from Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39 and managed by KSC. Located on the east coast of Florida, KSC is adjacent to Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS).

Rocket

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.

Learn more about the Space Shuttle

Agency

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.