NASA Sets Briefings to Preview March Space Shuttle Mission, STS-123

HOUSTON - NASA will discuss upcoming space shuttle mission STS-123 during a daylong series of media briefings from the Johnson Space Center beginning at 8 a.m. CST on Feb. 29. The briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency’s Web site. Questions also will be taken from participating NASA locations.

Space shuttle Endeavour’s 16-day mission is targeted for launch to the International Space Station on March 11. The mission will deliver the first section of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency’s Kibo laboratory and the Canadian Space Agency’s two-armed robotic system, Dextre. Five spacewalks will be conducted during the flight.

Following the briefings, members of the shuttle crew will be available for a series of round-robin interviews. Media planning to attend or participate in the interviews must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by noon Feb. 28. Foreign national media planning to attend the briefings, regardless of citizenship, must contact Johnson to arrange credentials no later than Feb. 12.

Endeavour will be commanded by Dominic Gorie. Gregory H. Johnson will be pilot. Mission specialists will be Robert L. Behnken, Mike Foreman, Rick Linnehan, Garrett Reisman and Japanese astronaut Takao Doi. Reisman will remain on the station as a resident crew member, replacing station Flight Engineer Leopold Eyharts of the European Space Agency, who will return home on Endeavour.

The schedule of briefings includes (all times CST):

8 a.m. Space Shuttle and Space Station Program Overview
9:30 a.m. STS-123 Mission Overview
11 a.m. NASA TV Video File
11:30 a.m. STS-123 Spacewalk Overview
1 p.m. STS-123 Crew News Conference

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

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv


For the latest information about the STS-123 mission and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle