OLD DOMINION ALUM COMMANDING SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION

Old Dominion University alumnus Michael Bloomfield is serving as commander of NASA's STS-110 mission aboard Space Shuttle Atlantis, the 13th shuttle flight to the International Space Station which launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 4:45 p.m. Monday, April 8.

During the mission, the shuttle's seven astronauts will be delivering the SO Truss, the centerpiece of the space station's exterior framework which sets the stage for future expansion and research, and conduct four spacewalks to install the new component. The crew will also install the Mobile Transporter, which will later be attached to a base system allowing the station's robotic arm to ride along the truss to perform assembly and maintenance work.

It is the second trip to the International Space Station and the third space flight for Bloomfield, who received a master's of engineering management from Old Dominion in 1993. In 2000, he piloted a mission to the station to install solar arrays. In 1997, Bloomfield made his first space flight to the Russian space station Mir, which delivered astronaut David Wolf to the Russian outpost and brought Mike Foale home after a four-month stay.

For more information visit the mission homepage at http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/.