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Paris, France (SPX) Jun 20, 2006 ESA announced Monday it has assigned Italian astronaut Paolo Nespoli to the crew of a NASA space shuttle flight in the summer of 2007 that will launch Node 2, an Italian-built U.S. connecting module to the International Space Station. For his first spaceflight, Nespoli will serve as a mission specialist, joining five NASA astronauts: Air Force Col. Pamela A. Melroy, who will command the STS-120 Shuttle mission - as a veteran shuttle pilot and the second woman to be named commander - Marine Corps Col. George D. Zamka, on his first space flight, who will serve as pilot; and mission specialists Scott E. Parazynski, Army Col. Douglas H. Wheelock and Navy Capt. Michael J. Foreman, also on his first space flight. Nespoli's mission will be carried out in the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding between the Italian space agency, ASI, and NASA for the supply to NASA of three pressurized Multi-Purpose Logistic Modules and the assignment to Italy of flight opportunities and ISS utilization. Node 2 for the Space Station is a pressurized module that, along with Nodes 1 and 3, interconnects the research, habitation, control and docking modules of the Station itself. The nodes are used to control and distribute resources between the connected elements. This Node 2 flight precedes the launch of ESA's Columbus laboratory to the ISS. Nespoli was born on April 6, 1957, in Milan, Italy. He holds a bachelor's degree in aerospace engineering and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics, both from the Polytechnic University of New York. He was awarded the Laurea in Ingegneria Meccanica by the Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy in 1990. Nespoli is a qualified professional engineer, private pilot with instrument rating, advanced scuba diver and Nitrox diver. During service in the Italian army between 1977 and 1984, he qualified as master parachutist, parachutist instructor, jump master, high altitude-low-opening freefall parachutist and special-forces operator. Nespoli resumed his university studies in 1985, leaving army duty in 1987. Upon completing his master's in 1989, he returned to Italy to work as a design engineer in Florence, where he conducted mechanical analysis and provided support for qualification of the flight units of the electron gun assembly, one of the main components of the Italian space agency's Tethered Satellite System. Related Links Space Station at ESA Space Station at NASA
Station Crew Prepares For Shuttle And Progress Dockings
Houston TX (SPX) Jun 20, 2006NASA announced Monday that Pavel Vinogradov, the International Space Station's expedition 13 commander, and Jeff Williams, the flight engineer, are preparing this week for the departure of one unpiloted Progress cargo carrier, the arrival of another, and for shuttle Discovery's scheduled arrive in July that will deliver an additional crew member.
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