NASA Sets Briefing for April Space Station Crew Change

HOUSTON -- NASA will hold a briefing at 1 p.m. CDT Wednesday, April 2, to preview the activities of the next residents of the International Space Station and to look back at the accomplishments of the current station crew. The briefing will originate from NASA’s Johnson Space Center and will be broadcast live on NASA Television. Questions will be taken from reporters at participating NASA locations.

Conducted on the eve of the docking of the Jules Verne European Automated Transfer Vehicle to the station, the briefing will focus on the upcoming Expedition 17 mission. Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko, along with South Korean Spaceflight Participant So-yeon Yi, will launch April 8 on a Soyuz spacecraft from Kazakhstan. They will join NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman, who has been aboard the station since March 12.

The briefing also will review the six-month mission of Expedition 16 Commander Peggy Whitson and Flight Engineer Yuri Malenchenko. Along with Yi, they will return to Earth April 19 in a Soyuz. Briefing participants are:

* Kirk Shireman, International Space Station Program deputy manager
* Heather Rarick, Expedition 17 lead flight director
* Holly Ridings, Expedition 16 lead flight director
* Julie Robinson, International Space Station program scientist
* Dr. Smith Johnston, Expedition 16 lead flight surgeon