Space Shuttle Endeavour is poised to deliver the next
crew to the International Space Station (ISS) later this
month and a series of press briefings beginning at 9 a.m. EDT
May 20 will outline the flight. The briefings will take place
at NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, and will be
broadcast on NASA Television.

Ten years after its maiden voyage, Endeavour will launch no
earlier than May 30 between 4 and 8 p.m. EDT to deliver the
fifth expedition crew to the ISS, along with nearly two tons
of supplies and experiments, and return the Expedition Four
crew to Earth after six months aboard the station.

The mission also includes three Extravehicular Activities
(EVAs), or spacewalks, to attach a Power and Data Grapple
Fixture on the station’s exterior and install and hook up a
Mobile Base Servicer on the station’s “railroad,” which was
delivered last month. Both items are part of the system
supporting the station’s robotic arm. Spacewalkers also will
replace the arm’s wrist roll joint.

Throughout the mission, equipment and supplies will be
removed from the Italian-built Leonardo Multi Purpose
Logistics Module. The high-tech moving van will be attached
to the station, unloaded, and then reloaded with experiments
and unneeded equipment for return to Earth.

Following the final briefing, round-robin interviews with
crewmembers will be available to reporters at Johnson and
those who make prior phone arrangements by calling Johnson’s
newsroom by 5 p.m. EDT on Thursday, May 16. The round-robin
interviews will not be broadcast on NASA TV.

* Special Notice to International Media Representatives:
International media wishing to cover the briefings or
participate by phone in the round-robin interviews must
notify the Johnson newsroom no later than May 10 by calling
281/483-5111. International media wishing to participate in
the briefings from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida,
should contact its newsroom at 321/867-2468 by May 10.

NASA TV is available on GE-2, Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees
west longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of
3880 MHz and audio of 6.8 MHZ.

The briefing schedule follows: 

      STS-111 Preflight Briefings -- May 20, 2002
                  (all times Eastern)

9 a.m.    International Space Station Program Overview
          Bill Gerstenmaier, ISS Deputy Program Manager

10 a.m.   STS-111 Mission Overview
          Paul Hill, Lead STS-111 Flight Director
          Rick LaBrode, Lead ISS UF-2 (STS-111) Stage Flight
Director
          Mike Rodriggs, STS-111 Launch Package Integration
Manager
          Chris Lorenz, ISS Mission Operations Mgr, Canadian
Space Agency (CSA)

12 Noon   NASA Television Video File

12:30 p.m. STS-111 Extravehicular Activity Briefing
           Tricia Mack, STS-111 Lead EVA Officer

1:30 p.m.  Expedition 5 Overview
           Dianne Murphy, Expedition 5 Increment Manager
           Dr. Vic Cooley, Expedition 5 Increment Scientist
           Tina Melton, Expedition 5 Payloads Operations
              Director, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center

2:30 p.m.  Expedition 5 Crew News Conference
           Valery Korzun, Commander
           Peggy Whitson, Flight Engineer 1
           Sergei Treschev, Flight Engineer 2

3:30 p.m.  STS-111/Expedition 5 (E5) Mission Crew News
Conference
           Ken Cockrell, STS-111 Commander
           Paul Lockhart, STS-111 Pilot
           Philippe Perrin, STS-111 MS 1
           Franklin Chang-Diaz, STS-111 MS 2
           Valery Korzun, E5 Commander
           Peggy Whitson, E5 Flight Engineer 1
           Sergei Treschev, E5 Flight Engineer 2