A
Mission Specialist (MS) is a position held by certain
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s during
Space ShuttleThe Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System , is a spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions. It began operations in the 1980s and is scheduled to be retired from service in 2010 after 134 launches...
missions. A Mission Specialist is assigned to a limited field of the mission, such as for medical expirements or technical quests.
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A
Mission Specialist (MS) is a position held by certain
NASAThe National Aeronautics and Space Administration is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program. NASA was established by the National Aeronautics and Space Act on July 29, 1958, replacing its predecessor, the National Advisory Committee for...
astronautAn astronaut or cosmonaut is a person trained by a human spaceflight program to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a spacecraft....
s during
Space ShuttleThe Space Shuttle, part of the Space Transportation System , is a spacecraft operated by NASA for orbital human spaceflight missions. It began operations in the 1980s and is scheduled to be retired from service in 2010 after 134 launches...
missions. A Mission Specialist is assigned to a limited field of the mission, such as for medical expirements or technical quests.
Other functions on board are
PilotAn aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887 as a variation of the French 'aviation', from the latin 'avis', coined 1863 by G. de la Landelle in "Aviation ou Navigation Aérienne"...
,
Flight EngineerIn aviation, a flight engineer is a member of the aircrew of some aircraft. The flight engineer is responsible for monitoring and controlling many of the aircraft systems during flight.- History :...
and
Mission CommanderCommander is a military rank which is also sometimes used as a military title depending on the individual customs of a given military service...
. Some Space Shuttle missions included
Payload SpecialistIn NASA vernacular, a Payload Specialist ' was an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a Space Shuttle mission...
s in addition to Mission Specialists. While a Payload Specialist was selected for a single specific mission, a Mission Specialist was selected as an astronaut first, and then assigned to a mission.
Mission Specialist is abbrieviated by NASA as MS.