FACTBOX: Discovery crew includes 3 rookie space flyers

(Reuters) - The U.S. space shuttle Discovery is scheduled to deliver laboratory gear, experiments, equipment, food and supplies to the International Space Station.

Here are brief profiles of the shuttle's seven-member crew:

* Frederick "Rick" Sturckow - Discovery's 48-year-old commander, Sturckow is a Marine Corps colonel who flew combat missions in Operation Desert Storm before becoming a test pilot and later an astronaut. He grew up on a farm near Lakeside, Calif. and attended the Navy Fighter Weapons School. He has logged more than 4,790 hours of flight in 50-plus different types of aircraft. Sturckow is married with two children. This is his fourth spaceflight.

* Kevin Ford - A 49-year-old retired Air Force colonel and test pilot who sidelines as a drummer in the all-astronaut band Max Q, Ford grew up in Montpelier, Ind., and holds a doctorate in astronautical engineering from the Air Force Institute of Technology. Ford, who joined the astronaut corps in 2000 and is married with two children, is making his first spaceflight.

* Patrick Forrester - A 52-year-old retired Army colonel, Forrester worked as a NASA engineer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston before being selected as an astronaut in 1996. A graduate of West Point Military Academy, Forrester has logged more than 4,400 hours in more than 50 different aircraft. He is married with two grown sons and is making his third spaceflight.

* Jose Hernandez - A 47-year-old engineer who grew up in a migrant farming family picking crops in California. Speaking only Spanish until he was 12 years old, Hernandez and his family settled in Stockton, Calif., so he could attend school full-time. Hernandez joined NASA in 2001 as a research engineer and joined the astronaut corps in 2004. Married with five children, Hernandez is making his first spaceflight.

* John Daniel Olivas - A 44-year-old mechanical engineer, Olivas grew up in El Paso, Texas, and joined NASA in 1998 as an astronaut. Earned a doctorate in mechanical engineering and materials science from Rice University. He holds six patents. Married with five children, Olivas will serve as Discovery's lead spacewalker. He is making his second spaceflight.

* Christer Fuglesang - A 52-year-old particle physicist, Fuglesang grew up in Stockholm, Sweden, and joined the European Space Agency's astronaut corps in 1992 after working at CERN. He also taught math at the Royal Institute of Technology. Married with three children, Fuglesang is making his second spaceflight.

* Nicole Stott - A 46-year-old former shuttle engineer, Stott grew up in Clearwater, Fla., and worked on the shuttles at the Kennedy Space Center before being selected as an astronaut in 2000. Married with one child, Stott will join the space station crew as a flight engineer, taking over for NASA's Timothy Kopra. She is making her first spaceflight.

(Reporting by Irene Klotz in Cape Canaveral; Editing by Pascal Fletcher and Paul Simao)