Ind. astronaut to fly on next shuttle mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – An Indiana astronaut will be the pilot on the space shuttle Discovery’s next mission to the International Space Station.

Kevin Ford was born in Portland, Ind., and considers Montpelier, Ind., his hometown. He will lead a seven-member crew on the mission scheduled to launch Aug. 25 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The astronauts will participate in a 13-day flight to deliver science and storage racks, a freezer to store research samples, a new sleeping compartment and a treadmill named
after comedian Stephen Colbert. Colbert wanted NASA to name a room at the space station after him, but NASA decided instead to give his name to a treadmill.