Astronaut Dave Wolf will return to space for first time since his 1997-1998 stay on Mir. Photo: NASA

NASA has named crew members to three missions scheduled to visit the International Space Station in the second half of 2002.

STS-112 (scheduled for July), STS-113 (August) and STS-114 (November) will involve assembly work, and the last two also will exchange space station expedition crews. In all, these missions will carry 23 astronauts and cosmonauts, including nine first-time flyers.

STS-112, commanded by Jeffrey S. Ashby (Capt., USN), will deliver a segment of the space station's truss and equipment to help spacewalkers move around the station's exterior. Pamela A. Melroy (Col. select, USAF) will serve as pilot. Mission specialists include David A. Wolf (M.D.), Piers J. Sellers (Ph.D.), Sandra H. Magnus (Ph.D.) and Fyodor N. Yurchikhin, RSC Energia.

Ashby has flown twice, on STS-93 in 1999 and STS-100 this year. Melroy flew on STS-92 in 2000. Wolf first flew in 1993 on STS-58; in 1997 he traveled to the Russian space station Mir, where he spent 199 days. Sellers, Magnus, and Yurchikhin will be making their first trips into space.

Jim Wetherbee, seen here in March on STS-102, will get his sixth flight on STS-113 while his pilot from that station flight, Jim Kelly, will fly on STS-114. Photo: NASA

STS-113, commanded by James D. Wetherbee (Capt., USN), also will carry a truss segment, along with additional equipment to assist spacewalkers. Pilot Christopher J. Loria (Lt. Col., USMC) will join Wetherbee on the flight deck. Michael E. Lopez-Alegria (Capt. select, USN) and John B. Herrington (Cmdr., USN) will serve as mission specialists.

Wetherbee, a veteran astronaut, has been in space five times: STS- 32 in 1990, STS-52 in 1992, STS-63 in 1995, STS-86 in 1997 and STS- 102 in 2001. Loria and Herrington are first-time flyers, and Lopez- Alegria will take his third trip to space, having flown on STS-73 in 1995 and STS-92 in 2000.

The Expedition Six space station crew -- Commander Kenneth D. Bowersox (Capt., USN), Donald A. Thomas (Ph.D.) and Nikolai M. Budarin, RSC Energia -- will travel to the station aboard STS-113. The Expedition Five crew, made up of Valeri G. Korzun (Col., Russian Air Force), Peggy A. Whitson (Ph.D.) and Sergei Y. Treschev, RSC Energia, will return to Earth on STS-113.

Bowersox was a member of STS-50 in 1992, STS-61 in 1993, STS-73 in 1995 and STS-82 in 1997. Thomas previously orbited Earth during STS-65 in 1994, STS-70 in 1995, STS-83 in 1997 and STS-94 in 1997. Budarin returns to space for his third long-duration flight after stays on Mir in 1995 and 1998. Expedition Five's Korzun takes his second long-duration trip to space after a stay at Mir that ended in 1997, while Whitson and Treschev will make their first trips into space.

Eileen Collins will make her second command of a space shuttle mission on STS-114. Photo: NASA

STS-114, which had been labeled STS-113 in earlier planning schedules and news releases, will be commanded by Eileen M. Collins (Col., USAF) and piloted by James M. Kelly (Lt. Col., USAF). The mission is a space station utilization and logistics flight. The mission includes Soichi Noguchi (NASDA) and Stephen K. Robinson (Ph.D.) as mission specialists. The mission will return Expedition Six to Earth and take Expedition Seven to the station. Expedition Seven is comprised of Yuri I. Malenchenko (Col., Russian Air Force), Sergei Moschenko, Khrunichev Space Center, and Edward T. Lu (Ph.D.).

Collins served as pilot on STS-63 in 1995 and STS-84 in 1997, and commanded the STS-93 mission in 1999. Kelly flew his first mission aboard STS-102 earlier this year. Robinson, having flown on STS-85 in 1997 and STS-95 in 1998, also serves as a backup crewmember for Expedition Four. Malenchenko served as commander of Mir 16 and flew on STS-106 in 2000. Moschenko is making his first space flight, while Lu flew aboard STS-84 in 1997 and STS-106 in 2000. Noguchi will be taking his first flight into space.

Complete biographies of each crew member can be found at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/.