First Native American in Space to Participate

The New York Times
Broadcast Group and New York Times Digital today announced their
hosting of an online conversation with the NASA Space Shuttle mission.
The New York Times Company properties were selected from hundreds of
media requests made to NASA to cover this event. John Herrington, an
Oklahoma member of the Chickasaw Nation, is the first Native American
astronaut to enter into space and will participate in the online
conversation. The in-flight event is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. (all
times E.S.T.) on Wednesday, November 27 and will run approximately six
minutes.

“The ability to bring this unique multi-media event to our
audience is thrilling,” said Cynthia Augustine, president of The New
York Times Company Broadcast Group. “Viewers will be able to
participate in an in-flight, online conversation with the first Native
American in space and join additional online conversations with Mr.
Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw Nation, and former NASA
astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr.”

“Hosting this online conversation with the NASA Space Shuttle crew
is a great thrill for us and offers our users a wonderful educational
experience,” said Martin Nisenholtz, chief executive officer of New
York Times Digital. “It’s just the kind of thing we created our Web
sites to do.”

“One of our core missions is to inspire the next generation of
explorers,” said Bob Jacobs, NASA’s media services director in
Washington, D.C. “One way to accomplish this important goal is to use
the emerging digital technologies and this online conversation is a
unique opportunity to extend NASA’s message.”

The eleventh Shuttle trip to the International Space Station,
code-named STS-113, launched yesterday from NASA Kennedy Space Center
in Florida. An hour-long online conversation will take place on
Wednesday, November 27 from 3:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. The in-flight
conversation with Mission Specialist Herrington will begin promptly at
4:00 p.m. and end at approximately 4:06 p.m. It will be preceded by an
online conversation with Bill Anoatubby, governor of the Chickasaw
Nation, and followed by an online conversation with former NASA
astronaut Charles F. Bolden Jr., a veteran of four space flights.

The online conversation will be hosted by the Times Company
Broadcast Group’s television station KFOR and its Web site
www.KFOR.com in Oklahoma City. KFOR.com will moderate the online
conversation and handle communications with NASA’s veteran Space
Shuttle program host, Cris Guidi. KFOR-TV news anchor Kevin Ogle will
converse with John Herrington through a satellite feed and pose the
online conversation questions to him. John Herrington will reply to
the online questions via satellite feed to KFOR’s news anchor and his
replies will be transcribed to participating New York Times sites
through KFOR’s site.

Online audiences can visit the following Times Company Web sites
to join the live conversation:

More information on STS-113 is available at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov and
http://www.shuttlepresskit.com/STS-113/SPK_sts-113.pdf. Information on
Mission Specialist Herrington is available at:
http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/shuttle/crew/intherrington.html.

The New York Times Company, a leading media company
with 2001 revenues of $3.0 billion, publishes The New York Times, The
Boston Globe and 16 other newspapers; owns eight network-affiliated
television stations and two New York radio stations; and has more than
40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. In 2002 the
Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune’s list
of America’s Most Admired Companies. Among all 530 companies on the
list, the Company ranked No. 1 in quality of products/services and No.
1 in social responsibility. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance
society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news,
information and entertainment.

Contact:

The New York Times Company
Toby Usnik, 212/556-4425
usnikt@nytimes.com