Bill Gerstenmaier, manager of NASA’s International Space Station Program, will update media on the status of Station activities in a teleconference at 4 p.m. EDT Friday. Gerstenmaier will discuss Station operations and launch preparations for the next crew.
Media who want to participate in the teleconference should call NASA’s Johnson Space Center Newsroom at: 281/483-5111 by 1 p.m. EDT Friday. Media who do not want to ask questions may use NASA’s “monitor only” phone lines: 321/867-1220/1240/1260.
The Expedition 10 crew, Commander Leroy Chiao and Flight Engineer Salizhan Sharipov, and Russian Space Forces Test Cosmonaut Yuri Shargin, launch Oct. 11 at about 12:17 a.m. EDT from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Chiao and Sharipov will take over from the Expedition 9 crew. Commander Gennady Padalka and Flight Engineer Mike Fincke have been living aboard the Station since April.
In addition to their spacewalk and science activities, Padalka and Fincke have worked to keep the Station in good condition for the next crew and repaired critical systems, such as the Russian Elektron oxygen generator. Maintenance will continue during Expedition 10, as the crew prepares the Station for next year’s Space Shuttle Return to Flight.
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