GODWIN WILL MAKE THIRD FLIGHT

Astronaut Linda Godwin will make her third space flight in March.

The Oak Ridge native and Jackson High School graduate will be aboard the shuttle Atlantis March 21 for a pre-dawn launch at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Atlantis will dock with the Russian space station Mir during the nine-day mission. It will be the third such docking mission.

While docked, the six-member crew is expected to transfer more than two tons of supplies and equipment for experiments from the shuttle to Mir.

Godwin and another astronaut will walk in space to attach scientific equipment to the station's exterior.

After five days, the shuttle will depart Mir. Astronaut Shannon Lucid will remain with the Russian crew for a 140-day mission aboard the space station.

Godwin, who has a doctorate in physics, is one of two astronauts who will conduct biology experiments on microscopic samples in the space lab module.

The space shuttle is scheduled to land at Kennedy Space Center.

James and Maxine Godwin of Oak Ridge plan to attend the launch as they have their daughter's two previous launches.

Maxine Godwin said the launch is scheduled for about 3 a.m. "It should be a beautiful launch in darkness," she said.

Maxine Godwin said she and her husband take their daughter's achievements in stride. Still, she said she never thought that her daughter would walk in space.

Linda Godwin has been low key about the mission. "I don't think anything excites her too much," her mother said.

Godwin graduated from Jackson High School in 1970. She received a bachelor of science degree in mathematics and physics from Southeast Missouri State University in 1974. She earned her master's and doctoral degrees from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 1976 and 1980, respectively.

Godwin serves as deputy chief of the astronaut office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston.

When she flew aboard the shuttle Atlantis in 1991 she carried a specially commissioned banner from Southeast. The banner featured the Academic Hall dome against a full moon, with the shuttle soaring overhead. The banner is now on permanent display at the university.

In 1994, she flew into space aboard the shuttle Endeavor.

Godwin has worked for NASA since 1980. She has been an astronaut since July 1986.