Astronaut Samuel T. Durrance joins NASA Quest's Space Team Online to discuss the experience of pre-mission preparation.

Dr. Durrance has logged over 615 hours in space as a member of the crew of Space Shuttle Columbia for the STS-35/Astro-1 and Space Shuttle Endeavour for the STS-67/Astro-2 missions. Both missions used the ASTRO telescope from the cargo bay of the orbiter. Dr. Durrance was a co-investigator for the Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope, one of the instruments of the Astro Observatory.

The primary objectives of STS-35 (December 2-10, 1990) were round-the-clock observations of celestial sphere in ultraviolet and X-ray astronomy with ASTRO-1 observatory consisting of four telescopes: Hopkins Ultraviolet Telescope (HUT); Wisconsin Ultraviolet Photo-Polarimeter Experiment (WUPPE); Ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (UIT); and Broad Band X-Ray Telescope (BBXRT). Ultraviolet telescopes mounted on Spacelab elements in cargo bay were to be operated in shifts by flight crew.

STS-67 (March 2 - 18, 1995) was the second ASTRO telescopes flight. It was the longest Shuttle flight to that date carrying unique ultraviolet telescopes that give astronomers a view of the universe impossible to obtain from the ground. The mission also gave Endeavour's crew an opportunity to perform a wide range of microgravity processing experiments, continue efforts in understanding the structure of proteins and study active control of flexible structures in space.

The Durrance family moved to the area near Kennedy Space Center two years ago from Baltimore Maryland where Sam had worked at Johns Hopkins University.

In honor of Take Your Children to Work Day, Dr. Durrance will be accompanied by his daughter, Susan, who attends Satellite High School and is in the 9th grade.She is looking forward to being a part of this webcast and welcomes your questions. Besides being the daughter of an astronaut, Susan sings with a church band, enjoys watching television and enjoys swimming. She has two dogs named Lucky and Astro and a cat named Ashes.

During the webcast we will take a look at Dr Durrance's experiences as Payload Specialist during the STS-35 and STS-67 missions, we'll view footage taken during his missions, learn more about the Florida Space Institute and discuss living in space. Viewers will be encouraged to pose questions in the chat room, some of which will be answered live during the webcast.

Some helpful links

Dr. Sam Durrance's bio

Information about STS-35

More Information about STS-67

Information about STS-67

Astro-1 being deployed from Columbia

April Programming

Event type	Date	Grade level	Technology Required	Subject
	Tuesday, April 18 - Thursday, April 20	K-12	Special Forum Archive	Felix Soto Toro reviews, designs, builds, tests and implements engineering designs used in the Shuttle and Payload Operations Development Laboratories. He ensures these hardware designs operate properly and safely.
	Thursday, April 27	First hour: All ages Last 30 minutes for University level questions	Question Forum and RealVideo Player Archive	Astronaut Preparation A bit of a departure from the Shuttle coverage, this month Astronaut Sam Durrance will walk us through those last hours before launch (something he has been through twice!) In honor of Virtual Take Our Daughters to Work Day, Sam's daughter, Susan, will be with him live!