NASA schedules '83 graduate Donald Pettit for 4-month stay on international space station

UA alumnus Donald Pettit is close to fulfilling a life-long dream: to become one of few humans who have visited space.

Pettit, who received his doctorate in chemical engineering from the UA in 1983, was named to join the Expedition 6 crew of the international space station in late July, after being slotted on the back-up crew.

Pettit replaced fellow astronaut Donald Thomas because of a medical issue that hampered Thomas' long-duration space flight tolderance.

The joy of being named to the crew and going into space earlier than he initially anticipated was bittersweet for Pettit, as he took the spot of a close colleague he had been training with.

"Of course you are excited, but also saddened because one of your close crew members will not be going," said Pettit, who received his bachelor's degree from Oregon State University and was selected by NASA in 1996.

Pettit is scheduled to be launched from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center in Houston for a four-month stay on the International Space Station with Ken Bowersox, the crew's commander and Russian Cosmonaut Nikolai Bundarin, who was awarded with the title of "Hero of Russia."

Prior to working at NASA, Pettit worked at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico for 12 years. A couple of his most notable projects were experiments on reduced gravity flow onboard NASA's KC-135 airplane, which replicates the weightless or zero-gravity environment of space flight.

Pettit also helped assemble the technology to explore Mars in 1990.

Those who know Pettit know how long he has been waiting for liftoff.

"It was his life-long dream," said Jost Wendt, head of the department of chemical and environmental engineering, who used to go hiking with Pettit.

Dean of the College of Engineering and Mines Tom Peterson knew Pettit when Pettit was at the UA.

Pettit was the first student Peterson ever advised, and Peterson remembers Pettit mentioning his goal a few times.

"He (Pettit) always wanted to apply his work to work in space," Peterson said.

Pettit acknowledges he has had the desire to become an astronaut from a young age.

"Ever since I was a little kid, I remember John Glenn going up," Pettit said.

Just being named to the backup crew meant Pettit would go to the International Space Station, a joint effort of countries like the US, Russia and Japan, but on a later flight. He would have gone up in another year had he not been assigned to the crew, Pettit said.

The experience of training as a back-up crew member ÷ where trainees had to do all the things the main crew did to be ready in case a situation like Thomas' arose ÷ was good because Pettit was able to "learn the ropes," he said.

Specifically, Pettit will take the place of Peggy Whitson of Expedition 5 in the International Space Station, who was a science officer.

"My role will be two hats, as a flight engineer and the science officer," said Pettit, who after being selected by NASA, was initially assigned to technical duties in the Astronaut Office Computer Support Branch. "From the engineer point of view, I will be helping build the station, there is still lots of construction to do and I will be in charge of doing payload experiments."

The Expedition 6 crew is scheduled to take a shuttle that will pick up the three members of Expedition 5. The shuttle will launch no earlier than Nov. 10.

Pettit, who says he is anxious to get back to campus when he has a chance, has been active at the UA since graduation.

He is a member of the Chemical and Environmental Engineering's Industrial Advisory Committee, which meets every year, but has missed the last two meetings because of space station training in Russia.

Pettit says it is likely he will follow the lead of Whitson, who has been sending letters home

"I probably will, we get to email and I love to write," Pettit said. "Some people like to bring books or movies, but I'd rather not. I'd rather write short stories."

Peterson feels that Pettit was one of the best students he has worked with during his career.

"He is one of the most creative students I ever had the honor and pride of working with," said Peterson, who said that he and Pettit correspond occasionally via email.

It is not so unusual for an alumnus to become an astronaut.

Tom Jones, who received a Ph.D. in planetary science in 1988, is a veteran of four space flights. He logged over 52 days, 1,272 hours in space, including 3 space walks which totaled over 19 hours.

Francis "Dick" Scobee died in the Challenger shuttle explosion in 1986. Scobee was a graduate in aerospace engineering in 1965.