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Jennifer McCarter
Headquarters, Washington, DC January 8, 1998
(Phone: 202/358-1639)
Bruce Buckingham
Kennedy Space Center, FL
(Phone: 407/867-2468)
Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)
RELEASE: 98-5
ENDEAVOUR LAUNCH TO MIR SET FOR JAN. 22;
STS-89 & MIR BACKGROUND PRESS BRIEFINGS NEXT WEEK
The night of Jan. 22 was selected today by Space Shuttle
program managers as the launch date for the first flight of 1998
and the eighth to rendezvous and dock with Russia's Mir space
station.
A series of background press briefings on the STS-89 mission
are scheduled beginning at 9 a.m. EST, Jan. 13, on NASA TV. A Mir
spacewalk activities briefing and Lunar Prospector briefing also
will be part of the lineup on Jan. 13. A list of the briefings,
NASA Centers from which they are originating, times and
participants is attached. NASA TV is available on GE-2,
Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical
polarization, with a frequency of 3880 Mhz, and audio of 6.8 Mhz.
The STS-89 mission objectives include replacing astronaut
David Wolf with Andy Thomas, who will be the next U.S. crew member
on the station as part of the Phase One Program. During the
mission, more than 7,000 pounds of experiments, supplies and
hardware are scheduled to be transferred between the two
spacecraft. Wolf will return home following four months on Mir.
The preferred launch window opportunity opens at
approximately 9:48 p.m. EST and closes about five minutes later.
Following a nominal flight duration of eight days, 19 hours, 48
minutes, Endeavour is scheduled to land at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center, FL, at about 5:36 p.m. EST, Jan. 31.
Today's launch date decision follows the traditional face-to-
face Flight Readiness Review at Kennedy by Shuttle managers from
NASA and prime contractor United Space Alliance.
"The team is ready to put Endeavour back into space after a
year and a half of undergoing important modifications and
upgrades," said George Abbey, director of NASA's Johnson Space
Center, Houston, TX, who chaired the review. "The work that has
been done in getting this vehicle ready to fly is attributable to
a real team effort across the program."
STS-89 will be Endeavour's 12th mission into space and the
89th Shuttle flight in the program's history.
-end-
EDITOR'S NOTE: Following the STS-89 mission briefings, individual
round-robin interviews with the STS-89 astronauts will be held for
reporters at Johnson and for those who make special arrangements
in advance to conduct the interviews by phone. Reporters
interested in round-robin interviews with the STS-89 astronauts
should fax a letter of interest to Eileen Hawley in Johnson Public
Affairs by close of business on Jan. 9, at 281/483-2000. The
round-robin interviews will not be seen on NASA TV.
STS-89 PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFINGS
Tuesday, Jan. 13, 1998
(All times shown are EST)
9:00 a.m. Mission Overview (Originating from JSC)
Phil Engelauf, STS-89 Lead Flight Director
10:00 a.m. Mir 24 Pre-EVA Activities Briefing (JSC)
Frank Culbertson, Director, Shuttle-Mir Phase One Program
Greg Harbaugh, Acting Manager, EVA Projects Office
10:45 a.m. Phase One Overview (JSC)
Frank Culbertson, Director, Shuttle-Mir Phase One Program
Valery Ryumin, Director, RSC Energia, Phase One Program
John Uri, Shuttle-Mir Mission Scientist
Noon Lunar Prospector Press Conference (ARC)
1:00 p.m. Spacehab Briefing (JSC)
Mike Bain, Shuttle-Mir Program Manager, Spacehab
1:30 p.m. Astroculture/X-ray Detector Test/MGM Experiment Briefing (MSFC)
Joel Kearns, Microgravity Research Program Manager, MSFC
Dr. Daniel Carter, New Century Pharmaceuticals
Dr. Raymond Bula, University of Wisconsin
Buddy Guynes, Project Manager, MGM experiment
2:30 p.m. STS-89 CREW PRESS CONFERENCE (JSC)
Terrence Wilcutt, Mission Commander
Joe Edwards, Pilot
Jim Reilly, Mission Specialist-1
Mike Anderson, Mission Specialist-2
Bonnie Dunbar, Payload Commander/Mission Specialist-3
Salizhan Sharipov, Mission Specialist-4
Andy Thomas, Mission Specialist-5
3:30 p.m. STS-89 Crew Round Robins
Note: The round robin interview event with the STS-89
crew is a local JSC event only and will not be carried on NASA TV.
JSC - Johnson Space Center
KSC - Kennedy Space Center
ARC - Ames Research Center
MSFC - Marshall Space Flight Center