NASA Sets Briefings for Upcoming Shuttle Mission to Hubble

HOUSTON -- NASA will hold briefings Thursday, April 23, to update reporters about the space shuttle’s fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. NASA Television and the agency’s Web site will provide live coverage of the briefings from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and from NASA Headquarters in Washington. Questions also will be taken from other participating NASA locations.

Shuttle Atlantis’ 11-day flight, designated STS-125, is targeted for launch May 12 from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida and will include five spacewalks to refurbish and upgrade the telescope with state-of-the-art science instruments. As a result, Hubble’s capabilities will be expanded and its operational lifespan extended through at least 2014.

U.S. journalists planning to attend the briefings at Johnson must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by April 21 to arrange for credentials. All reporters who are foreign nationals must contact Johnson by April 6.

Scott Altman will command Atlantis’ crew, which includes Pilot Gregory C. Johnson and Mission Specialists Andrew Feustel, Michael Good, John Grunsfeld, Megan McArthur and Mike Massimino. The spacewalkers are Good, Grunsfeld, Feustel and Massimino. McArthur is the flight engineer and lead for robotic arm operations.

The briefings will include a crew news conference, but the crew will not be available for round robin interviews.

The schedule of activities is (times CDT):

7 a.m. -- Video B-roll feed from Johnson Space Center
8 a.m. -- Shuttle Program overview briefing from Johnson
9:30 a.m. -- Hubble Program and science overview from NASA Headquarters
11 a.m. -- NASA TV Video File
2 p.m. -- STS-125 crew news conference from Johnson

Altman and Grunsfeld will be available for satellite interviews on NASA TV from 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. To arrange an interview via satellite, contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than April 21.

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

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For the latest information about the STS-125 mission and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For more information about the Hubble Space Telescope, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/hubble