Crew Assigned for Last Flight of Atlantis

NASA today announced the crew assigned to fly shuttle Atlantis for the last time - the third-to-last shuttle flight ever - which is targeted to launch from Kennedy Space Center on April 8, 2010.

Ken Ham, who piloted Discovery on STS-124 last May and June, will command the crew on a mission to deliver a Russian-built research module to the International Space Station.

The STS-132 mission will be piloted by Tony Antonelli, who just completed his first spaceflight in March as pilot of Discovery, the on STS-119 mission that installed the station's last set of solar arrays.

Mission specialists are Steve Bowen, Karen Nyberg, Garrett Reisman and Piers Sellers.

It will be the second spaceflight for each crew member except Sellers, who will be making his third trip to space.

After STS-132, NASA plans two more mission to complete assembly of the station and deliver spare parts and a physics experiment. The missions are planned by the end of 2010.

Here's the NASA press release:

NASA Assigns Crew for STS-132 Space Shuttle Mission

WASHINGTON -- NASA has assigned the crew for space shuttle mission STS-132, targeted for launch in April 2010. This flight will deliver the Russian-built Mini Research Module (MRM1) to the International Space Station.

Navy Capt. Ken Ham will command the shuttle Atlantis for this 11-day mission. Navy Cmdr. Tony Antonelli will serve as the pilot. Mission specialists are Navy Capt. Steve Bowen, Karen Nyberg, Garrett Reisman, and Piers Sellers.

Ham was born in Plainfield, N.J. He received a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the Naval Postgraduate School. He served as the pilot on the STS-124 mission, which launched on May 31, 2008.

Antonelli was born in Detroit and grew up in Indiana and North Carolina. He holds a bachelor's degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a master's degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington. He served as the pilot on STS-119, which flew to the space station in March.

STS-132 will be the second mission for Bowen, who served as a mission specialist on STS-126 in November 2008. He was born in Cohasset, Mass., and has a bachelor's degree from the U.S. Naval Academy and a degree of ocean engineering from MIT.

STS-132 also will be the second spaceflight for Nyberg, who served as a mission specialist on STS-124. She considers Vining, Minn., to be her hometown. She holds a bachelor's degree from the University of North Dakota, and a master's and a doctorate degree from the University of Texas.

This will be Reisman's second spaceflight. Reisman served as a flight engineer on the space station for portions of Expeditions 16 and 17, spending more than three months in space. He was born in Morristown, N.J., and considers Parsippany, N.J., his hometown. He has a bachelor's degree from the University of Pennsylvania and a master's and doctorate degree from the California Institute of Technology.

Sellers will be embarking on his third spaceflight, having served as a mission specialist on STS-112 in 2002 and STS-121 in 2006. He was born in Crowborough, Sussex, United Kingdom. He has a bachelor's degree from University of Edinburgh and a doctorate from Leeds University.

Video of the STS-132 crew members will air on NASA Television's Video File at 10 p.m. EDT. For downlink and scheduling information and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For complete astronaut biographical information, visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios

For more information about NASA's Space Shuttle Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

IMAGE NOTE: On June 2, 2008, astronaut Ken Ham, STS-124 pilot, ate a snack at the galley on the middeck of space shuttle Discovery during flight day three activities.