943rd Rescue Group Reservists launch to support Space Shuttle Discovery mission

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Ruby Zarzcyzny
  • 943rd Rescue Group Public Affairs
DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  In support of the Space Shuttle Discovery mission, the Air Force Reserve's 943rd Rescue Group deployed two HH-60G PAVE HAWK helicopters, nine aircraft maintainers from the 943rd Maintenance Squadron, and four pararescuemen from the 306th Rescue Squadron March 7 to Patrick Air Force Base, Fla. to augment other rescue Reservists from the 920th Rescue Wing to back up the Space Shuttle launch. The helicopters and rescue Reservists deployed on a C-17 aircraft from the Air Force Reserve's 446th Airlift Wing, McChord Air Force Base, Wash. 

Seven additional Reservists including a pilot, a gunner, two flight engineers, a combat rescue officer, and two additional pararescuemen from the 943rd Rescue Group will join them March 9. They will be providing crew rescue support for the Space Shuttle Discovery launch and recovery. 

With the Space Shuttle Discovery set for liftoff on March 11 at 9:20 p.m. EDT for the STS-119 mission, the countdown clock begins at the T-43 hour mark at 7 p.m. today, March 8. Earlier today, Discovery's astronauts were scheduled fly from their home base in Houston, arriving mid-afternoon in Florida. 

Commander Lee Archambault will lead Discovery's crew of seven, along with Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Joseph Acaba, John Phillips, Steve Swanson, Richard Arnold and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata. The Discovery crew members are set to fly the S6 truss segment and install the final set of power-generating solar arrays to the International Space Station. The S6 truss will complete the backbone of the station and provide one-fourth of the total power needed to support a crew of six. 

The helicopters and personnel from the 943rd are scheduled to return to Davis-Monthan AFB April 3. For more information about the 943rd Rescue Group, visit http://www.920rqw.afrc.af.mil/units/943rescuegroup/index.asp.