Nancy J. Currie - Spaceflight Experience

Spaceflight Experience

STS-57 Endeavour (June 21 to July 1, 1993). The primary objective of this mission was the retrieval of the European Retrievable Carrier satellite (EURECA). Additionally, this mission featured the first flight of Spacehab, a commercially-provided middeck augmentation module for the conduct of microgravity experiments, as well as a spacewalk by two crewmembers, during which Dr. Currie operated the Shuttle’s robotic arm. Spacehab carried 22 individual flight experiments in materials and life sciences research. STS-57 orbited the Earth 155 times and covered over 4.1 million miles in over 239 hours and 45 minutes.

STS-70 Discovery (July 13–22, 1995). The five-member crew deployed the final NASA Tracking and Data Relay Satellite to complete the constellation of NASA’s orbiting communication satellite system. Dr. Currie also conducted a myriad of biomedical and remote sensing experiments. STS-70 orbited the Earth 143 times and covered over 3.7 million miles in over 214 hours and 20 minutes.

STS-88 Endeavour (December 4–15, 1998). STS-88, ISS Flight 2A was the first International Space Station assembly mission. The primary objective of this 12-day mission was to mate the first American-made module, Unity, to the first Russian-made module, Zarya. Dr. Currie's primary role was to operate the Shuttle's 50-foot robotic arm to retrieve Zarya and connect the first two station segments. Two crewmembers performed a series of three space walks to connect electrical umbilicals and to attach hardware to the exterior structure for use during future EVAs. Dr. Currie also operated the robot arm during the space walks. During the mission the STS-88 crew ingressed the International Space Station to complete systems activation and installation of communication's equipment. The crew also deployed two small satellites. STS-88 completed 185 orbits of the Earth and covered over 4.7 million miles in 283 hours and 18 minutes.

STS-109 Columbia (March 1–12, 2002). STS-109 was the fourth mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope. During the flight, Dr. Currie’s primary role was to operate the Shuttle’s 50-foot robot arm to retrieve and redeploy the telescope following the completion of numerous upgrades and repairs. She also operated the robot arm during a series of five consecutive spacewalks performed by four crewmembers. Hubble’s scientific capabilities and power system were significantly upgraded with the replacement of both solar arrays and the primary power control unit, the installation of the Advanced Camera for Surveys, and a scientific instrument cooling system. The Hubble Space Telescope was then boosted to a higher orbit and redeployed to continue its mission of providing views of the universe which are unmatched by ground-based telescopes or other satellites. STS-109 completed 165 earth orbits and covered over 3.9 million miles in over 262 hours.