NEWS TIP SHEET
University of Colorado at Boulder alumna and NASA astronaut Marsha Ivins is slated to make her fifth journey into space on Feb. 7, when NASA's space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to blast off from Cape Kennedy, Fla.
Set for launch at 8:11 a.m. MST, Atlantis and its six-person crew will attach the U.S. laboratory module, Destiny, to the International Space Station. Destiny is the first lab to be delivered to the International Space Station and marks the beginning of the 2001 space science odyssey for the station and the Expedition One crew now on board.
The shuttle will spend six days docked to the station while the laboratory is being attached. NASA officials estimate it will take three spacewalks by astronauts to complete the assembly of Destiny.
Ivins received her bachelor聮s degree from CU-Boulder in 1973 in aerospace engineering sciences. She is one of 15 CU-Boulder astronaut-alumni to fly in space.
Ivins previously flew aboard Columbia in 1990, Endeavour in 1992 and Columbia in 1994 and 1997. She has logged more than 1,009 hours in space as an astronaut.
The Atlantis shuttle mission was originally scheduled for launch on Jan. 18, but the flight was delayed due to electrical wiring problems.
Jim Voss, also a CU-Boulder graduate in aerospace engineering, is slated to blast off for the International Space Station on March 1. Voss is scheduled to live aboard the space station for more than four months, conducting microgravity experiments and performing spacewalks to continue construction and ensure the safety of the International Space Station.
For more information contact Jim Scott in the CU-Boulder Office of News Services at (303) 492-3114.