Posted: Thu, Mar 29, 2001, 11:09 AM ET (1609 GMT)
NASA this week announced assignments for four new International Space Station crews as well as astronauts that will fly a mission to upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. The astronauts named to the Expedition Five through Eight crews continue the pattern of alternating between two Russian and one American versus two Americans and one Russian, although the cosmonauts scheduled to fly those increments have yet to be named. Notable among the selections is Michael Foale, who will command Expedition Eight: Foale also spent several months on the Mir space station in 1997, and was aboard when a Progress supply spacecraft collided with the station, depressurizing the Spektr module. NASA also rounded out the crew for the STS-109 shuttle mission that will perform upgrades to the Hubble Space Telescope later this year. The four astronauts who will perform spacewalks to work on the telescope had already been selected; the assignments announced Monday include the commander, pilot, and flight engineer. STS-109 is the second half of a servicing mission originally scheduled last year but was split in half so part of the repairs, including replacement of gyros that were failing on the spacecraft, could be flown in late 1999 on mission STS-103. Of the original STS-103 crew only mission specialist John Grunsfeld, one of the spacewalkers, will also fly on STS-109.

Related Links:

•  NASA press release on ISS crew selections
•  NASA press release on STS-109 crew selections