NASA Holds Briefings Jan. 17 to Preview Space Station Science and Activities

NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston will hold two news conferences Thursday, Jan. 17, to preview the upcoming Expedition 35 and 36 missions aboard the International Space Station. NASA Television and the agency's website will carry the briefings live.

At 11 a.m. CST (noon EST), the International Space Station Program and Science Overview briefing will cover mission priorities and objectives. These will include several visiting spacecraft, such as multiple Russian Progress resupply ships, the fourth European Automated Transfer Vehicle, the fourth Japanese H-II Transfer Vehicle, the SpaceX Dragon cargo craft and the debut demonstration and supply flights of the Orbital Sciences Cygnus spacecraft.

Four Russian spacewalks also are scheduled during the 5 1/2-month mission with the possible addition of U.S.-based spacewalks. The briefing participants are:

-- Mike Suffredini, International Space Station Program manager -- Tony Ceccacci, NASA flight director -- Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist

At 1 p.m. (2 p.m. EST), Expedition 35/36 crew members Chris Cassidy of NASA and Pavel Vinogradov and Alexander Misurkin of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will discuss their mission. They are set to launch to the orbiting laboratory aboard a Soyuz spacecraft March 27 and return to Earth Sept. 11.

Cassidy, Vinogradov and Misurkin are three of the six crew members comprising Expeditions 35 and 36. When they arrive at the station, they will join NASA astronaut Tom Marshburn, Canadian Space Agency astronaut Chris Hadfield and Roscosmos cosmonaut Roman Romanenko.

Following the news conference, interview opportunities with the crew are available in- person, by phone or through Internet videoconferencing. To reserve an interview opportunity, media representatives must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11.

For those attending the briefing at Johnson, the deadline for U.S. reporters to request credentials is Jan. 15. The deadline for international residents is Jan. 9. Reporters wishing to attend at other NASA centers should contact those centers' newsrooms for specific deadlines.

To participate via telephone, reporters must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 15 minutes before each briefing. Media will not be able to connect after a briefing has started. Priority will be given to journalists participating in-person. Questions by phone will be taken as time permits.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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NASA Holds Briefings Jan. 17 to Preview Space Station Science and Activities