Dartmouth graduate is member of Hubble Space Telescope Repair Team

Posted 03/07/02

Last week, a member of the Dartmouth family was launched into space. NASA astronaut and 1978 Dartmouth graduate Jim Newman is one of four mission specialists in the seven-person crew that rendezvoused last Sunday with the Hubble Space Telescope. Mission STS-109, flying aboard the shuttle Columbia, is charged with five space walks, called extravehicular activities, to repair the telescope that was launched in 1990.

No stranger to space, Newman now has four space journeys under his belt. Prior to this Hubble mission, he logged 32 days in space, including four spacewalks totaling 28 hours, 27 minutes. On this flight, he has participated in two extravehicular assignments.

Also among the crew are two astronauts who flew with Jay Buckey, Research Associate Professor at Dartmouth Medical School, on the Neurolab Space Shuttle mission in April 1998. Mission specialist Rick Linnehan and Commander Scott Altman both accompanied Buckey into space, where they studied the physiological effect of space travel on humans.

"It's great to see Scott and Rick back in space again, especially on a historic mission like this," said Buckey.

According to Buckey, the crew has taken a Dartmouth banner and a picture of the Life on Mars course website with them on their ten-day mission. These items will be presented to Dartmouth after they return to earth.

For more information, visit the following websites:

• NASA's updates on the shuttle mission: http://www.nasa.gov/
• Mission background: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/
• Jim's Bio: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/newman.html