AirSpaceMag.com

Flight 134
What makes a good space shuttle crew? STS-134 commander Mark Kelly (far right) says you start with the necessary mix of skills — a pilot, a robot arm operator, experienced spacewalkers. But beyond that, “you want a team that you think will work together well.” Here’s the crew that Kelly and his bosses in the astronaut office picked for the last regularly scheduled shuttle mission: Pilot Greg “Box” Johnson (next to Kelly) will be making his second flight. Kelly says the former F-15 pilot is a “good team builder, always a very positive attitude.” Continuing down the line: Two-time space station resident Mike Fincke has spent a year on the ISS, but this will be his first shuttle ride (his other launches were on the Russian Soyuz). Italian Roberto Vittori has also visited the station twice, and he too will be launching on the shuttle for the first time. The European Space Agency astronaut has known Kelly since test piloting days. Drew Feustel will take his first trip to the station — his only previous shuttle mission was to repair the Hubble Space Telescope. And Greg Chamitoff will be flying on the shuttle for the second time. He lived on the space station for six months in 2008.

Robert Seale

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Photos from: "Shuttlenauts" »