US space shuttle Endeavour blasted off on Monday to deliver a potentially revolutionary physics experiment to the International Space Station on the next-to-last flight in NASA's shuttle program.
Navy Capt. Mark Kelly is quite possibly the best known commander. He's married to Arizona Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was wounded in January at a political.
Astronaut Mike Fincke will set a U.S. record — 380-plus days in orbit — by the time Endeavour returns in 16 days.
Gregory Chamitoff, 48, an engineer and planetary scientist, spent six months on the International Space Station in 2008.
Pilot Gregory Johnson became the crew's spokesman in the wake of the Tucson shooting, while Mark Kelly was on leave.
Andrew Feustel flew NASA's final mission to the Hubble Space Telescope, Now he's on Endeavour's last hurrah.
Roberto Vittori, 46, a colonel in the Italian Air Force, was chosen as an astronaut by the Italian Space Agency in 1998.
NASA's space shuttle Endeavour is set to launch Friday (April 29) on its final spaceflight, and record crowds — including President Barack Obama — are expected to see the orbiter off. On its STS-134 mission, Endeavour will deliver a $1.5 billion astrophysics experiment to the International Space Station. It will also drop off some supplies to help outfit the orbiting lab for the post-shuttle era, which begins after Atlantis' STS-135 mission this summer.
Shuttle's first international space station trek
U.S. shuttle Endeavor's STS-134 mission