HOUSTON — NASA will hold a series of media briefings on Monday, Aug. 10, to preview the next space shuttle mission to the International Space Station. NASA Television and the agency’s Web site will provide live coverage of the briefings from NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. Questions also will be taken from other participating NASA locations.

Shuttle Discovery’s 13-day flight, called STS-128, is targeted to launch Aug. 18. The flight will deliver 33,000 pounds of supplies and equipment to the station and a new crew member. The equipment includes new science hardware and experiments, additional sleep quarters for the expanded station crew and an air purification system. The mission also will deliver the COLBERT treadmill.

Astronaut Rick Sturckow will command Discovery. He will be joined by Pilot Kevin Ford and Mission Specialists Pat Forrester, Jose Hernandez, Danny Olivas and European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang. NASA astronaut Nicole Stott will fly to the complex aboard Discovery to begin a three-month mission as a station resident. She replaces NASA’s Tim Kopra, who will return home on Discovery.

U.S. reporters planning to attend the briefings in Houston must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. CDT on Aug. 6 for credentials. Journalists representing foreign media, regardless of citizenship, must contact the Johnson newsroom by 5 p.m. on July 30.

Schedule of activities (all times CDT):
7 a.m. — STS-128 Video B-Roll
8 a.m. — Program Overview Briefing
9 a.m. — STS-128 Mission Overview Briefing
11 a.m. — NASA TV Video File from NASA Headquarters
11:30 a.m. — STS-128 Spacewalk Briefing
1 p.m. — STS-128 Crew News Conference

Also on Aug. 10, Discovery’s seven astronauts will be available for round-robin interviews at Johnson. Reporters must contact Gayle Frere at 281-483-8645 by Aug. 6 to reserve an interview opportunity.

STS-128 Mission Specialist Hernandez, providing insights about his training on Twitter in both English and Spanish. His Twitter account is astro_jose, and he can be followed at: http://www.twitter.com/astro_jose

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For the latest information about the STS-128 mission and its crew, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For the latest information on the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station