Engineering alumnus commands next space shuttle mission

4/9/2013 Written by Rick Kubetz, College of Engineering

Veteran space flier and Illinois alumnus Lee "Bru" Archambault (BS 1982, MS 1984, Aerospace Engineering) will command space shuttle Discovery's upcoming mission to the International Space Station.

Written by Written by Rick Kubetz, College of Engineering

AE alumnus Lee "Bru" Archambault before his 2007 shuttle flight.
Veteran space flier and Illinois alumnus Lee "Bru" Archambault (BS 1982, MS 1984, Aerospace Engineering) will command space shuttle Discovery's upcoming mission to the International Space Station. Discovery is targeted to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Feb. 12 at 7:28 a.m. EST.

Archambault, a U.S. Air Force colonel who hails from Bellwood, Ill., is one of seven astronauts who will fly on the shuttle mission, which is designated STS-119. The shuttle will deliver the space station's fourth and final set of solar array wings, completing the station's backbone, or truss. The arrays will provide the electricity to power science experiments and increase the crew size to six in May.

The 14-day flight will feature four spacewalks to prepare for the installation of the truss' final segment, deploy the solar arrays and prepare them for operation. The shuttle also will deliver the first Japanese resident station crew member and bring back Belleville, Ill., native Sandra Magnus, who will have lived aboard the complex for more than three months.

In his first space flight in June 2007, Archambault piloted the shuttle Atlantis to the International Space Station. He joined the U.S. Air Force in 1985 and has logged over 4,250 flight hours in more than 30 different aircraft, including the F-117A Stealth Fighter. He guided that craft through 22 combat missions in the Gulf War between 1990 and 1991. Later he served as an instructor pilot and test pilot to aid aircraft weapons development before joining NASA in June 1998.

Archambault graduated from Proviso West High School in Hillside, Ill.

For Archambault's complete biography, visit www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/archambault.html.

For the latest information about the STS-119 mission and crew, visit www.nasa.gov/shuttle.

For more about the International Space Station, visit www.nasa.gov/station.


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This story was published April 9, 2013.