Oregon Astronaut Don Pettit Will be Aboard Next Space Shuttle Mission

Don Petit was selected to join NASA in 1996.

(CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.) - Astronaut Donald Pettit, who was born in Silverton, Oregon, will make his second journey into orbit on space shuttle Endeavour's mission to the International Space Station. Endeavour is targeted to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14th, at 7:55 PM EST.

Pettit is one of seven astronauts who will fly on the shuttle mission designated STS-126. The shuttle will deliver equipment and supplies necessary to double the station crew size from three to six in May 2009.

During the 15-day flight, astronauts will service the station's two Solar Alpha Rotary Joints. The starboard joint has been in limited use since September 2007.

The crew of STS-126 is practicing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston for the upcoming mission to the International Space Station. The astronauts are taking part in a rehearsal known as the Orbiter Integration Simulation.

Chris Ferguson, commander of space shuttle Endeavour’s flight to the station, and the six other astronauts are set to deliver new equipment and supplies to outfit the orbiting laboratory for a larger crew.

Endeavour, standing on Launch Pad 39B at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, is undergoing preparations to move to Launch Pad 39A on October 25th. It is targeted to launch on November 14th. Workers at Kennedy will detach the Orbiter Midbody Umbilical Unit as part of those preparations. The unit connects ground support equipment with the shuttle’s power-generating fuel cells.

Don Pettit graduated from Silverton Union High School, and received his bachelor's degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State University in 1978 and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1983.

Graduated from Silverton Union High School, Silverton, Oregon, in 1973; received a bachelor of science degree in chemical engineering from Oregon State University in 1978; and a doctorate in chemical engineering from the University of Arizona in 1983.

He served as a staff scientist at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, New Mexico from 1984-1996. Projects Petit was involved with included reduced gravity fluid flow and materials processing experiments on board the NASA KC-135 airplane, atmospheric spectroscopy on noctilucent clouds seeded from sounding rockets, fumarole gas sampling from volcanoes, and problems in detonation physics. He was a member of the Synthesis Group, slated with assembling the technology to return to the moon and explore Mars (1990), and the Space Station Freedom Redesign Team (1993).

Selected by NASA in April 1996, Dr. Pettit reported to the Johnson Space Center in August 1996.

In November 2007 Pettit was assigned to the crew of STS-126 targeted for launch in November, 2008. Endeavour will carry a reusable logistics module that will hold supplies and equipment, including additional crew quarters, a second treadmill, equipment for the regenerative life support system and spare hardware.

Space Flight Experience

Expedition 6, November 23rd, 2002 to May 3rd, 2003. Dr. Pettit completed his first space flight as NASA ISS Science Officer aboard the International Space Station, logging over 161 days in space, including over 13 EVA hours.

During 5-1/2 months aboard the International Space Station, the crew worked with numerous U.S. and Russian science experiments. Dr. Pettit and the mission commander Ken Bowersox performed 2 EVAs (spacewalks) to continue the external outfitting of the orbital outpost.

The Expedition 6 crew launched on STS-113 Space Shuttle Endeavour and returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-1.