College of Engineering News • Iowa State University

Alum guides Endeavour mission

Joel Montalbano, an Iowa State aerospace engineering alum and NASA flight director since 1999, is the lead space station flight director for space shuttle Endeavor’s mission (STS-118) to the International Space Station (ISS). A native of Chicago, Montalbano earned his BS at Iowa State in 1988. He has been at the Johnson Space Center for the past 12 years and has spent considerable time in Russia as a key leader in forging a relationship with the Russians for International Space Station Operations.

Endeavour arrived on the ISS August 10. As lead flight director, Montalbano presides over the mission, guiding the team of flight directors, flight controllers, engineering experts, and support personnel at NASA’s Mission Control Center. Critical phases of the mission, including installation of the Starboard 5 (S5) truss segment and replacement of a control gyroscope, have already been successfully accomplished.

Astronaut Clay Anderson, a flight engineer aboard the ISS and also an ISU alum, operated the robotic arm that moved the S5 into place while two STS-118 astronauts were outside the station guiding the segment. Called the integrated truss structure, the S5 is the newest piece of the station’s framework. When completed, the ISS will span the length of a football field and contain four sets of solar arrays.

To learn more about Anderson’s ISS assignment, visit the NASA International Space Station Web site. Images from the ISS are available in the Expedition 15 Gallery. Days and times when the ISS will be visible from Earth are available at NASA sighting opportunities.

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