UA’s First Astronaut Will Pilot July Space Shuttle Mission

TUSCALOOSA, Ala.– James Kelly, who earned his master of science in aerospace engineering from The University of Alabama in 1996, will pilot the Space Shuttle Discovery on NASA’s Return to Flight Mission. The liftoff is scheduled for July 13 at 2:51 p.m. CDT.

Kelly will serve as pilot on STS-114. During this Return to Flight mission, the crew will test and evaluate new procedures for flight safety, shuttle inspection and repair techniques. Discovery’s mission, which will be the 114th flight of a space shuttle, also includes carrying a multi-purpose logistics module, a replacement control moment gyroscope and the orbiter boom sensor system, which will help the astronauts inspect the Shuttle’s thermal tiles and panels. The crew is slated to conduct at least three spacewalks while at the International Space Station.

Kelly, UA’s first astronaut, earned his master’s degree through UA’s video-based distance learning program QUEST, Quality University Extended Site Telecourses. His first trip to the campus in 1996 was for a special graduation ceremony where he was awarded his degree.

This will be the second space mission for Kelly, who is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Air Force. Kelly was the pilot on STS-102 in March 2001 and has logged more than 307 hours in space. A former military test pilot, Kelly has logged more than 3,000 flight hours in over 35 different aircraft. More than 2,400 people applied for NASA’s 1996 astronaut class, and Kelly was one of 44 members and one of only 10 pilots selected.

For more information, visit NASA’s mission Web site and astronaut biographies at http://www.nasa.gov/returntoflight; or contact Dr. Michael Freeman, associate professor of aerospace engineering and mechanics and one of Kelly’s UA professors, at michael.freeman@ua.edu.

In 1837, The University of Alabama became the first university in the state to offer engineering classes and was one of the first five in the nation to do so. Today, the College of Engineering has about 1,800 students and more than 95 faculty. It has been fully accredited since accreditation standards were implemented in the 1930s.