Shuttle launch marks another Rice first in space

Shuttle launch marks another Rice first in space
Astronauts Doi, Whitson are first Rice alums to orbit at same time

BY JADE BOYD
Rice News Staff

This morning’s launch of space shuttle Endeavour marked another first in Rice’s storied history with NASA — the first time two Rice alumni have flown in space at the same time.

Endeavour crew member Takao Doi ’04, of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, is headed to the international space station (ISS), which is under the command of Peggy Whitson ’86.

“Peggy is deeply thoughtful, energetic beyond reason and committed to the unique science that can be done on the ISS,” said Kathleen Matthews, dean of the Wiess School of Natural Science and Whitson’s thesis adviser at Rice. “That she is commander with a fellow Rice Ph.D. alum on board marks a milestone in Rice’s long-term scientific connection with the space program and our efforts to explore the universe.”

TAKAO DOI

During its 17-day mission, Endeavour’s seven-member crew will continue construction of the space station with five spacewalks. The crew will install the first section of the new Japanese science module, which is called Kibo, along with a new, multi-limbed robot arm named Dextre.

This is the second mission in space for Doi, who earned a doctorate in astronomy from Rice in 2004. Doi became Japan’s first man in space in 1997 when he made two spacewalks and logged more than 370 hours aboard space shuttle Columbia.

PEGGY WHITSON

Doi’s thesis adviser, Pat Hartigan, professor of physics and astronomy, said Doi’s research at Rice led “to a more complete picture of how star formation really works.” As part of the study, Doi thoroughly mapped the Orion Nebula with an instrument that allowed him to study young stars that are still forming, Hartigan said.

“Takao offered to take something from Rice up with him on this flight, and at (Rice Provost) Gene Levy’s suggestion, I printed out a nice cloth image of the Orion Nebula,” Hartigan said. “When he brings it back, we will frame it and display it in our department.”

Doi has a key role in installing the first section of Kibo, which means “hope” in Japanese. The lab will be installed in three phases, and once finished, it will be the largest experiment module on the space station.

“This is the first piece of the Japanese space station module and … the first manned space facility Japan has ever launched,” Doi said in a prelaunch interview. “So I can say that with this mission (the) real Japanese manned space program can begin.”

Following two spacewalks by other Endeavour crew members, Doi will use the station’s robotic arm to install Kibo’s logistics module late this week. The logistics module contains eight of the 31 racks that will eventually make up the Kibo lab. When completed early next year, Kibo will possess every function required to perform experiments in space. It will have sections that are both pressurized and exposed to space, and it will be equipped with a scientific airlock and a remote manipulator system that will allow astronauts to operate exposed experiments without spacewalks.

Whitson arrived at the ISS in October. As commander of the 16th expedition to the space station, she is overseeing a critical period of station growth. NASA is racing to finish construction of the ISS before the space shuttle fleet is retired in 2010, and just last month, astronauts from STS-122 installed the European Space Agency’s Columbus science laboratory. Whitson and her crew are currently running experiments in the lab under the direction of Columbus’ ground controllers in Germany.

Whitson, who earned both her master’s and doctorate in biochemistry from Rice, is the first woman to command the space station. She also served as the station’s first science officer during Expedition 5 in 2002. She’s scheduled to return to Earth in May.