KSC-99pp1152

The 1998 astronaut candidate class (group 17) gather in the Space Shuttle Main Engine Processing (SSMEP) Facility. In the foreground is one of the main shuttle engines. The class is at KSC for training activities, including fire training and a flight awareness program, plus touring the OPF, SSME Processing Facility, VAB, SSPF, launch pads, SLF, Apollo/Saturn V Center and the crew headquarters. The U.S. candidates in the '98 class are Clayton C. Anderson, Lee J. Archambault, Tracy E. Caldwell (Ph.D.), Gregory E. Chamitoff (Ph.D.), Timothy J. Creamer, Christopher J. Ferguson, Michael J. Foreman, Michael E. Fossum, Kenneth T. Ham, Patricia C. Hilliard (M.D.), Gregory C. Johnson, Gregory H. Johnson, Stanley G. Love (Ph.D.), Leland D. Melvin, Barbara R. Morgan, William A. Oefelein, John D. Olivas (Ph.D.), Nicholas J.M. Patrick (Ph.D.), Alan G. Poindexter, Garrett E. Reisman (Ph.D.), Steven R. Swanson, Douglas H. Wheelock, Sunita L. Williams, Neil W. Woodward III, George D. Zamka; and the international candidates are Leopold Eyharts, Paolo Nespoli, Hans Schlegel, Roberto Vittori, Bjarni V. Tryggvason, and Marcos Pontes