Twin Brother NASA Astronauts Available For Satellite Interviews
HOUSTON -- For the first time, twin brothers are slated to be in space
simultaneously early next year. Mark Kelly will be in command of the
last scheduled space shuttle flight, and Scott Kelly in command of
the International Space Station.
The Kelly brothers will be available for live satellite interviews
between 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. CDT Tuesday, Aug. 17. Scott Kelly is
scheduled to launch to the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz
spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 7 (Oct.
8 local time) for a six-month-long mission aboard the complex. He
will serve as flight engineer for Expedition 25 and commander for Expedition 26.
His twin brother Mark, commander of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134
mission, is scheduled to visit the station in February to deliver
supplies and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. AMS is a device to
study the universe's origin by searching for antimatter, dark matter,
strange matter and measuring cosmic rays. If the launch schedule
holds, the pair would be working together in orbit for eight days
before the shuttle undocks and returns to Earth.
To arrange an interview, reporters should contact producer Jeremiah
Maddix at 281-483-8631 or by e-mail to jeremiah.m.maddix@nasa.gov by
5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16. Video b-roll of the Kellys' previous missions
and training will air on NASA TV Aug. 17 from 8:45 to 9:15 a.m.
The Kellys, both captains in the U.S. Navy, were born Feb. 21, 1964,
in Orange, N.J., and consider West Orange, N.J., their hometown.
Scott has flown on two prior shuttle missions: as pilot of STS-103 in
1999 and as commander of STS-118 in 2007. Mark is a veteran of three
prior shuttle missions: as pilot of STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in
2006, and as commander of STS-124 in 2008.
The NASA Television Live Interview Media Outlet channel will be used
for the interviews. The channel is a digital satellite C-band
downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 3,
transponder 9C, located at 87 degrees west, downlink frequency 3865.5
Mhz based on a standard C-band, horizontal downlink polarity. FEC is
3/4, data rate is 6.0 Mbps, symbol rate is 4.3404 Msps, transmission
DVB-S, 4:2:0.
The interviews also will be broadcast live on NASA TV. For streaming
video, downlink and scheduling information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
Scott and Mark Kelly are sharing their experiences via their
respective Twitter accounts. Follow Mark at:
http://twitter.com/
Follow Scott at:
http://twitter.com/
For complete biographical information about Scott and Mark Kelly, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios
Source: NASA
