Discovery STS-120 launches into space.
Dr. Scott Parazynski, who was a member of a 2006 American Alpine Institute Denali Expedition, is now serving as a mission specialist aboard the Discovery Shuttle (STS-120), currently in space and bound for the International Space Station. STS-120 is the 23rd shuttle mission to the International Space Station, and will launch an Italian-built U.S. multi-port module for the station.
Scott Parazynski during a training.
Scott is the crew’s chief spacewalker and outdoor repairman. A doctor as well as an instrument-rated pilot, Scott practiced for this mission by patching deliberately damaged shuttle tiles in a first-ever space demo of a high-tech caulking gun and goo. This will be his fifth spaceflight.
Discovery STS-120 crew, with Scott on the far left.
The mission is led by retired Air Force Col. Pamela Melroy, the second woman to command a shuttle flight. For more about her and the other astronauts, check out the MSNBC article: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21382916/from/ET/.
Another shot of the shuttle lifting from Earth.
Here is a link to NASA's page covering the Discovery STS-120 mission: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html.
Dr. Scott Parazynski.
Great to see Scott take off safely. Will be thinking of him and the rest of the crew during their trip.
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