CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Class of 2009 Astronaut Candidates, also called ASCANs, check out heat shield tiles in Orbiter Processing Facility-1. Inside the facility, shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final scheduled shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission. Sarah Schilling, Atlantis' processing engineer, right, was on hand to answer questions about the vehicle. The new astronaut candidates for NASA are Serena M. Aunon, Jeanette J. Epps, Air Force Maj. Jack D. Fischer, Air Force Lt. Co


CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. --- At NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Class of 2009 Astronaut Candidates, also called ASCANs, check out heat shield tiles in Orbiter Processing Facility-1. Inside the facility, shuttle Atlantis is being prepared for the 'launch on need,' or potential rescue mission for the final scheduled shuttle flight, Endeavour's STS-134 mission. Sarah Schilling, Atlantis' processing engineer, right, was on hand to answer questions about the vehicle. The new astronaut candidates for NASA are Serena M. Aunon, Jeanette J. Epps, Air Force Maj. Jack D. Fischer, Air Force Lt. Col. Michael S. Hopkins, Kjell N. Lindgren, Kathleen 'Kate' Rubins, Navy Cmdr. Scott D. Tingle, Army Lt. Col. Mark T. Vande, and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Gregory R. 'Reid' Wiseman. The new astronaut candidates for the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, or JAXA, are Norishige Kanai, Takuya Onishi and Kimiya Yui. The new astronaut candidates for the Canadian Space Agency, or CSA, are Jeremy Hansen and David Saint-Jacques.


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