PORTLAND (AP) – A Mainer who served as a Navy SEAL for 10 years is ready for the next adventure: Christopher Cassidy is headed to space aboard the shuttle Endeavor.

Liftoff is scheduled June 13 for the shuttle and its six-member crew. Cassidy is one of four astronauts making their first trips to space.

Through a series of five spacewalks, Cassidy and his crewmates will attach a Japanese experiment module to the International Space Station. At 16 days, it’s scheduled to be one of the longest shuttle missions and will tie the previous record for space walks.

The 39-year-old Cassidy was born in Salem, Mass., but considers his hometown to be York, Maine. The MIT grad served two tours in Afghanistan with the SEALs.


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