When Space Shuttle Discovery
lifts off on October 5 — the 100th mission of the Shuttle program — it will
carry a payload that will make up the backbone of the electric power system
for the International Space Station.
It’s a historic journey that began right
here at Boeing in Canoga Park.

Not only did Rocketdyne build the Space Shuttle Main Engines that have
powered every mission since the shuttle program began in 1981, but Boeing
engineers at Canoga Park developed the system that will provide electrical
power for life support and scientific research on the Space Station.

On Thursday, September 28, news media representatives are invited to
prepare for this historic mission with a visit to Rocketdyne to learn more
about the significant contributions of Boeing units from Canoga Park to
Huntington Beach and hundreds of local suppliers in developing the power
system being launched next week.

In addition to a briefing by program engineers on the Southern California
contribution to the International Space Station, media guests will inspect and
photograph: 

    -- Full-scale, high fidelity mock-ups of the massive Z-1 and P-6 elements
       of the Space Station power system.  These mock-ups were used in the
       buoyancy tank at NASA's Johnson Space Center to plan and train for the
       extensive extra-vehicular activity (EVA) required for Station assembly.
       (Note: the mock-ups were built at Ducworks in Camarillo)

    -- The Engineering Support Room, the "mini-mission control" where Boeing
       engineers monitor the power system for NASA during all missions.

    -- The Space Electronics Laboratory and the Space Electronics Test
       Facility, where space station components are rigorously tested before
       flight.

    WHAT:   Briefing: Southern California and the International Space Station

    WHEN:   Thursday, September 28, 2000, 10 a.m. to 12 Noon

    WHERE:  The Boeing Company
            8900 DeSoto Ave. (corner of Nordhoff & DeSoto), Canoga Park

Media representatives should RSVP by Wednesday, September 27, in order to
arrange for entry badges.
Call Dan Beck at (818) 586-4572.