EAST COUNTY ASTRONAUT RICK STURCKOW MAY COMMAND NEXT SPACE SHUTTLE FLIGHT

January 14, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Frederick “Rick” Sturckow, who grew up in Lakeside and La Mesa, may be the commander on the next space shuttle flight. NASA has named Sturckow to fill in at least temporarily in training for commander Mark Kelly, whose wife, Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, is recovering from an attempted assassination in Tucson.

Sturckow, 49, has flown on four prior space shuttle missions and commanded two of those. He is the only person who has visited the International Space Station four times.
 

Born in La Mesa, Sturckow grew up in Lakeside, where his parents had a medical practice and a Christmas tree farm. He graduated in 1978 from Grossmont High School, the only high school in America to boast three astronauts among its alumni.
 

Sturckow later got a bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering from California Polytechnic State University in 1984. He joined the Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Colonel, logging over 4,000 flight hours on more than 50 different aircraft.
 

Sturckow and the five veteran astronauts assigned to Endeavour for what is NASA’s final scheduled shuttle flight will begin training together next week. The Endeavour crew will equip the station with the $2 billion Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer, an external astronomical observatory for studies of cosmic rays and dark matter.
 

The launch has been postponed from April 1 to April 19. Sturckow was named to fill in during training at the request of Kelly. I am very hopeful that I will be in a position to rejoin my STS-134 crewmembers to finish our training,” Kelly said in a statement, but he added, “I recommended to my management that we take steps now to prepare to complete the mission in my absence, if necessary.”
 

Mark Kelly’s brother, Scott Kelly, also an astronaut, led a moment of silence in space with the Isis Expedition for the 19 victims of the Tucson shooting tragedy, including six who died.

“As I look out the window, I see a very beautiful planet that looks very inviting and peaceful,” he said. “Unfortunately, it is not. These days we are constantly reminded of the unspeakable acts of violence and damage we can inflict upon one another, not just with our actions but with our irresponsible words. We are better than this. We must do better.”