Monday, April 2, 2012

NASA To Hold Briefing Previewing SpaceX Mission To Space Station

April 02, 2012

Michael Braukus
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1979
michael.j.braukus@nasa.gov

Josh Byerly/Kelly Humphries
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
josh.byerly@nasa.gov/kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

Kirstin Brost Grantham
Space Exploration Technologies, Hawthorne, Calif.
202-649-2716
Kirstin@spacex.com


MEDIA ADVISORY: M12-057

NASA TO HOLD BRIEFING PREVIEWING SPACEX MISSION TO SPACE STATION

HOUSTON -- NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will hold a media
briefing on Monday, April 16, to preview the SpaceX demonstration
mission to the International Space Station, currently scheduled for
launch April 30.

The briefing will immediately follow a Flight Readiness Review (FRR)
conducted by senior NASA managers, space station partners and SpaceX
officials. The review likely will conclude in the early afternoon.
The briefing will be broadcast live on NASA Television and on the
agency's website.

During the flight, SpaceX's Dragon spacecraft will conduct a series of
checkout procedures, which will test and prove its systems in advance
of the rendezvous with the space station. The primary objectives for
the flight include a fly-under of the station at a distance of 1.5
miles (2.5 kilometers) to validate the operation of sensors and
flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous. The spacecraft also
will demonstrate the capability to abort the rendezvous.

If the checkout procedures go well, Dragon will perform the rendezvous
while the station crew works inside the complex to grapple the
vehicle with the station's robotic arm. Dragon will be berthed to the
Earth-facing side of the Harmony node. At the end of the mission, the
crew will reverse the process, detaching Dragon from the station,
after which Dragon will return to Earth and be recovered.

Briefing participants include:
-- William Gerstenmaier, NASA associate administrator for Human
Exploration and Operations
-- Michael Suffredini, International Space Station program manager
-- Alan Lindenmoyer, Commercial Orbital Transportation Services
program manager
-- Elon Musk, SpaceX chief executive officer and chief designer
-- Holly Ridings, NASA flight director

Reporters can ask questions from participating NASA centers or via
telephone by contacting the Johnson Space Center newsroom 15 minutes
before the start of the briefing at 281-483-5111.

For those attending in person, the deadline for reporters to request
credentials at Johnson is Monday, April 9, for international
residents and Friday, April 13, for U.S. citizens.

Media can follow updates on the progress of the FRR and briefing start
time by following NASA on Twitter at:

http://www.twitter.com/NASA

For more information on the flight, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/spacex

For more information on the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information,
visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


-end-

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