NASA Announces Sts-134 Prelaunch Events And Countdown Details

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- News conferences, events and operating hours
for the news center at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., are set for
the final scheduled launch of space shuttle Endeavour. Lift off is
targeted for 3:47 p.m. EDT on Friday, April 29, to begin the STS-134
mission to the International Space Station.

Endeavour's crew members are Commander Mark Kelly, Pilot Greg H.
Johnson and NASA Mission Specialists Mike Fincke, Drew Feustel and
Greg Chamitoff and European Space Agency Mission Specialist Roberto Vittori.

A NASA blog will provide countdown updates beginning at 10:30 a.m.
April 29. Originating from Kennedy's Launch Control Center, the blog
is the definitive Internet source for information leading up to lift off.

During the mission, visitors to NASA's shuttle website can read about
the crew's progress and watch the mission's four spacewalks live. As
Endeavour's flight concludes, the NASA blog will detail the
spacecraft's return to Earth. For NASA's launch blog and continuous
mission updates, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

Detailed lists of countdown milestones, news briefing times and
participants, and hours of operation for Kennedy's news center and
media credentialing office are available at:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/news

The NASA News Twitter feed will be updated throughout the shuttle
launch countdown, mission and landing. Four of Endeavour's crew
members -- Johnson, Chamitoff, Fincke and Kelly -- may post updates
from the mission to their Twitter accounts. To follow, visit:

http://www.twitter.com/nasa

http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Box

http://www.twitter.com/Astro_Taz

http://www.twitter.com/AstroIronMike

http://www.twitter.com/ShuttleCDRKelly

Free wireless Internet access is provided at the Kennedy Press Site
news center and annex. Instructions for wireless access will be
available at the news center. Since accessibility may be limited
because of the number of users, reporters should bring a backup.
For NASA TV streaming video, scheduling and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

---

NASA Sets Launch Date For Space Shuttle Endeavour Mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Space shuttle Commander Mark Kelly and his
five crewmates are scheduled to begin a 14-day mission to the
International Space Station with a launch at 3:47 p.m. EDT on Friday,
April 29, from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The STS-134
mission is shuttle Endeavour's final scheduled flight.

The launch date was announced Tuesday at the conclusion of a flight
readiness review at Kennedy. During the meeting, senior NASA and
contractor managers assessed the risks associated with the mission
and determined the shuttle and station's equipment, support systems
and personnel are ready.

The crew will deliver a particle physics detector, known as the Alpha
Magnetic Spectrometer-2 (AMS) to the station. AMS is designed to
measure cosmic rays to search for various types of unusual matter,
such as dark matter and antimatter. The instrument's experiments will
help researchers study the formation of the universe. Endeavour also
will deliver the Express Logistics Carrier 3, a platform that carries
spare parts to sustain station operations after the shuttles are
retired from service. The mission will feature the last four
spacewalks by a shuttle crew. The spacewalkers will do maintenance
work, install new components, and perform a complex series of tasks
to top off the ammonia in one of the station's photovoltaic thermal
control system cooling loops.

The crew consists of Commander Kelly, Pilot Greg H. Johnson, NASA
Mission Specialists Michael Fincke, Andrew Feustel and Greg Chamitoff
and European Space Agency Mission Specialist Roberto Vittori. They
are scheduled to arrive at Kennedy on Tuesday, April 26, for final
launch preparations.

STS-134 is the 134th shuttle mission, Endeavour's 25th flight and the
36th shuttle mission to the station.

For more information about the STS-134 mission, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

For more information about the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

Source: NASA

---