In honor of the successful completion of STS-106, SPACEHAB hosted an informal briefing with the Space Shuttle crew Monday, October 23, at the company's Bay Terrace facility in Houston. Five members of the seven-person crew, which flew on the first Shuttle mission to the International Space Station since the arrival of its newest component, the Russian Service Module Zvezda, spoke to a group of about 50 employees and invited guests. Not present were the mission's two cosmonauts, Mission Specialists Yuri Malenchenko and Boris Morukov, who had returned to Russia.

The gathering provided an opportunity for the astronauts to thank Flight Services and Engineering Services staff for their support on STS-106 and for staff to talk informally with the astronauts. SPACEHAB's Mike Chewning, Vice President, Research and Logistics Missions, introduced Mission Commander Terry Wilcutt, Pilot Scott Altman, and Mission Specialists Dan Burbank, Ed Lu, and Rick Mastracchio. Mike thanked all SPACEHAB employees who supported the flight, saying it was "truly an outstanding mission."

Led by Commander Wilcutt, the crew narrated a video of their mission, providing unique insight into the outfitting of the ISS for its first permanent crew. "The mission of Flight 106 was to turn the International Space Station into a home," Wilcutt said. The crew installed plumbing, electrical systems and exercise equipment. "While we were assigned twice as many tasks as were originally planned," he said, "we were not only determined to do it, but to have fun doing it."

"Our systems are designed for human exploration in space," said Mission Specialist Ed Lu. "Without a flight services support system we couldn't do our job."

Besides giving an account of what it took to perform assigned tasks, the crew applauded the clean, light interior of Zvezda and the establishment of a permanent laboratory aboard the ISS. They all spoke about some of the beautiful views from the Shuttle - seeing the Northern and Southern Lights, and the sparkle of the station's solar arrays against the blue of the Pacific Ocean.