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National Aeronautics and
Space Administration
Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center
Houston, Texas 77058
AC 713 483-5111
Science Payload Commanders Named; Carter Replaces Cleave on IML-1
In a move to provide long range leadership in the development and planning of payload crew science activities, four Space Shuttle mission specialists currently assigned to STS missions have been designated as payload commanders.
The payload commanders will have overall crew responsibility for the planning, integration and on orbit coordination of payload/Space Shuttle activities on their mission. The crew commander will retain overall responsibility for mission success and safety of flight.
Named as payload commander for STS-42, the first flight of the International Microgravity Laboratory (IML-01) set for late 1990, is mission specialist Norman E. Thagard, M.D. In addition, Navy Capt. Manley L. "Sonny" Carter, M.D., has been named as a mission specialist on the IML crew, replacing Mary L. Cleave, Ph.D., who has resigned her flight assignment for personal reasons.
Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D., will serve as payload commander for STS-45, the first flight of the Atmospheric Laboratory for Applications and Science (ATLAS-01), slated for launch in 1991.
Payload commander for STS-46 is Jeffrey A. Hoffman, Ph.D. The STS-46 mission, set for 1991, will feature the first flights of the European Retrievable Carrier (EURECA), developed by the European Space Agency, and the Tethered Satellite System, a joint project between NASA and the Italian space agency, Agenzia Spaziale Italiana.
Air Force Lt. Col. Mark Lee will be the payload commander on mission STS-47 for Spacelab-J, a joint science venture between NASA and the Japanese National Space Development Agency, NASDA, also in 1991.
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