Getting Personal: NASA Website Shows Human Side of Space Station
Visit NASA’s new “Personal Space” Web site and get up-
close and personal with International Space Station team
members like STS-98 astronaut Robert Curbeam.
Curbeam, called “Beamer” by his friends, and his crewmates are
currently scheduled to launch Feb. 7 to deliver the U.S.
Laboratory Destiny to the station. As a young child, Curbeam’s
goal was to design rockets. Now he rides rockets into space.
During STS-98, Curbeam will be part of the second crew to
visit the now-inhabited space station. Wearing a 300-pound
spacesuit 220 miles up, Curbeam will take a walk on the wild
side, attaching the U.S. laboratory to the ever-growing
station. The site allows visitors to walk in Curbeam’s shoes
and learn what inspired him to pursue his career path.
Other featured space station team members include:
* Kathy Laurini, an American mother of three who lives and
works on the Automated Transfer Vehicle project in the
Netherlands;
* Takayoshi Nishikawa, a triathlete who prepared and
conducted the training program for station astronaut
candidates at the Japanese Space Agency (NASDA);
* Dino Brondolo, an avid winemaker who spent the last nine
years building Multipurpose Pressurized Logistics Modules for
the Italian Space Agency;
* Alain Dubeau, manager of the Canadian Space Station
Program, whose inch-worm-like “Canada Arm” robot arm will aid
future station construction;
* Sylvie Beland, also of the Canadian Space Agency, whose job
is to ensure all Canadian hardware, including the famous robot
arm, and flight-support equipment arrive at the station
safely; and
* The Expedition One crew — two Russians and an American —
the first humans to take up long-term residence on the
International Space Station.
“Personal Space” uses Flash technology to combine video
vignettes, photos and other text and visual content into an
interactive presentation. The site is located at:
