HOUSTON, July 26 (UPI) -- NASA says it will soon begin briefings about the next shuttle mission, STS-115, which is scheduled for late August.
Space agency officials say the mission will resume construction of the International Space Station and will be the first in a series of shuttle flights "as complex and challenging as any in history."
NASA officials at the Johnson Space Center in Houston said the mission's crew will consist of Commander Brent Jett; Pilot Chris Ferguson; mission specialists Daniel Burbank, Heide Stefanyshyn-Piper, Joe Tanner; and Steve MacLean, a Canadian Space Agency astronaut.
The STS-115 mission, set for 11 to 12 days, will be focused on installing a 17-ton segment of the space station's truss backbone that will add a new set of giant solar panels and associated batteries to the complex, NASA said.
