Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington, DC                  July 15, 1996
(Phone:  202/358-1979)

Eileen Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone:  713/483-5111)

RELEASE:  96-139

CREW NAMED TO SIXTH SHUTTLE-MIR DOCKING MISSION

     Four crew members have been named to join U.S. Air Force 
Colonel Charles J. Precourt on board Atlantis for the sixth 
scheduled docking mission between the Space Shuttle and 
Russia's Mir space station.  Precourt was named commander of 
the mission last February.

     Joining Precourt on the flight deck will be Pilot Eileen 
Collins (Lt. Col., USAF).  Mission Specialists for the flight 
are Carlos Noriega (Major, USMC) and Edward Lu, Ph.D., the 
first mission specialists from the 1995 astronaut class to be 
assigned to a Shuttle flight.  Rounding out the crew is 
European Space Agency astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy.

     Atlantis also will carry Mission Specialist Mike Foale 
to the Mir space station to begin a planned four-month stay 
as part of NASA's Phase One Program.  Foale will replace 
Jerry Linenger, scheduled to arrive at Mir in January during 
the STS-81 mission.  Linenger will return to Earth on board 
Atlantis as a member of the STS-84 crew.

     Collins, 39, will be making her second journey into 
space.  She previously flew as pilot on STS-63 in February 
1995 as Discovery was maneuvered to within ten meters of the 
Mir space station, setting the stage for subsequent 
rendezvous and docking missions.

     Noriega, 36, and Lu, 33, will be making their first 
flights into space after having successfully completed their 
required training and preparation.  They were selected as 
astronauts in 1994, reporting to the Johnson Space Center, 
Houston, TX, in March 1995.  Clervoy, 37, flew previously on 
Atlantis during STS-66, the third Atmospheric Laboratory for 
Applications and Science in 1994.  STS-84 will be his second 
Space Shuttle flight.

     Foale, 39, has spent the past year in Russia training 
for his stay on board Mir.   He has three previous 
spaceflights to his credit, STS-45 on board Atlantis in 1992, 
STS-56 in 1993 and STS-63 in 1995, both on Discovery.  
Linenger, 41, previously flew on STS-64 aboard Discovery in 
September 1994.

     Atlantis will carry the Spacehab double module and will 
remain docked with the Mir space station for five days 
transferring supplies and experiments between the two 
spacecraft in addition to the astronaut exchange.

     For complete biographical information on the STS-84 
crew, or any astronaut, see the NASA Internet biography home 
page at URL: 

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

                    -end-

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