Dwayne Brown

Headquarters, Washington, DC

Phone: 202/358-1726

Eileen Hawley

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Phone: 281/483-5111

NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-043

Members of the news media are invited to attend a
series of briefings on Tuesday, Sept. 26, at NASA’s
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, regarding the next
Space Shuttle mission to the International Space Station.
As part of the STS-92 mission, astronauts will install
the first permanent latticework truss, the
“backbone” of the International Space Station,
setting the stage for future Station construction. Launch
is currently scheduled for Oct. 5.

During this mission aboard Space Shuttle Discovery,
astronauts will connect the Z1 segment of the Integrated
Truss Structure. The truss provides a framework structure
to house communications and motion control equipment. In
addition, the astronauts will install the Pressurized
Mating Adapter-3, which will provide a Shuttle docking
port for solar array installation on the next Shuttle
mission, as well as the Ku-band Communications System and
the Control Moment Gyroscopes, which provide attitude
(orientation) control.

Veteran Astronaut Brian Duffy (Col., USAF) is
commander of the mission and Pamela Melroy (Lt. Col.,
USAF) is pilot. They will be accompanied by Mission
Specialists Koichi Wakata (NASDA), Leroy Chiao (Ph.D.),
Peter “Jeff” Wisoff (Ph.D.), Michael
Lopez-Alegria (Cmdr., USN), and William McArthur (Col.,
USA).

The briefings will begin at 9 a.m. EDT with an
overview of the International Space Station, followed at
10 a.m. by an overview of the STS-92 mission. An overview
briefing on the Z1 truss will be held at 11 a.m.,
followed by the Video File on NASA Television at 12 noon
EDT. Following a break, the briefings will continue at 1
p.m. with a briefing detailing the four space walks to be
conducted during the mission. The briefings will conclude
with the Crew News Conference beginning at 2 p.m. All
briefings will be broadcast live on NASA Television, and
questions will be taken from media at participating NASA
centers.

NASA Television is available on the GE-2 satellite,
transponder 9C, located at 85 degrees W. longitude,
vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz and
audio at 6.8 MHz.

Limited interview opportunities with members of the
flight crew will immediately follow the crew press
conference for reporters at the Johnson Space Center and
for those reporters who make advance arrangements to
participate by telephone. Media wishing to participate in
the crew interviews must fax their request to the JSC
newsroom at (281) 483-2000 byclose of business, Friday,
Sept. 22.

STS-92 Preflight Briefings

Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2000 

(all times EDT)
   9:00 a.m.   International Space Station Overview
               Tommy Holloway, Manager, International
                 Space Station Program
               Robert Cabana, ISS Manager for
                 International Operations

  10:00 a.m.   STS-92 Mission Overview
               Chuck Shaw, STS-92 Lead Flight Director
               Sally Davis, ISS Lead Flight Director

  11:00 a.m.   Z1 Truss Overview
               Robert Galvez, Launch Package Manager

  12:00 p.m.   NASA Television Video File

   1:00 p.m.   STS-92 Extravehicular Activity Overview
                 Briefing
               Daryl Schuck, STS-92 Lead EVA Officer

   2:00 p.m.   STS-92 Crew Press Conference
               Brian Duffy, Commander
               Pamela A. Melroy, Pilot
               Koichi Wakata, Mission Specialist
                 (NASDA)
               Leroy Chiao, Mission Specialist
               Peter J.K. Wisoff, Mission Specialist
               Michael E. Lopez-Alegria, Mission
                 Specialist
               William S. McArthur, Jr., Mission
                 Specialist

   3:00 p.m.   STS-92 Crew Round-Robin Interviews
               (Note: These interviews will not be
                 carried on NASA TV.)

– end –

Please do not contact NASA Office of Public Affairs for
information on Office of Inspector General releases.

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