NASA To Preview April Flight Of Space Shuttle Discovery
HOUSTON -- NASA will preview the next space shuttle mission during a
series of news briefings on Tuesday, March 9, at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston. NASA Television and the agency's Web site will
broadcast the briefings live. Reporters will be able to ask questions
from participating NASA locations.
The STS-131 mission, targeted for launch April 5, will be shuttle
Discovery's next-to-last flight and deliver critical spare parts and
cargo to the International Space Station. A multipurpose logistics
module will be carried inside the shuttle's payload bay and
temporarily attached to the station during the mission. The cargo
carrier will be brought back with the shuttle. Following STS-131,
only three more shuttle flights are scheduled.
Alan Poindexter will serve as the mission commander and James Dutton
as the pilot. They will be joined by Mission Specialists Rick
Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Clayton Anderson,
Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency. Dutton, Metcalf-Lindenburger and Yamazaki will be
making their first trips into space. Metcalf-Lindenburger is a member
of the cadre of former educators trained as mission specialists and
the last of that group scheduled to fly on the shuttle.
The schedule of briefings includes (all times CST):
8:00 a.m. -- Program Overview
9:30 a.m. -- STS-131 Mission Overview
12:30 p.m. -- STS-131 Spacewalk Overview
1:00 p.m. -- STS-131 Crew News Conference
The crew will be available for interviews at Johnson after the
briefings. Reporters must contact Gayle Frere at 281-483-8645 by
March 5 to reserve an interview opportunity. Reporters planning to
attend the briefings in Houston must contact the Johnson newsroom at
281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. CST on March 3 for credentials.
For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For the latest information about the STS-131 mission and its crew,
visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
For more information about the space station and its crew, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
Source: NASA
