NASA Sets Launch Date And Media Credential Deadlines For Final Shuttle Flight
WASHINGTON -- NASA's final space shuttle flight is targeted to launch
July 8 at about 11:40 a.m. EDT from the agency's Kennedy Space Center
in Florida. Four veteran astronauts will fly aboard shuttle Atlantis
to deliver supplies and spare parts to the International Space Station.
This date was targeted based on NASA's current planning. An official
launch date will be announced following the June 28 Flight Readiness Review.
There are several non-standard activities, including a tanking test
followed by an X-ray inspection of a section of the external fuel
tank, which may affect Atlantis' processing. The tank consists of
three sections. Mission managers want to X-ray aluminum support
beams, known as stringers, located where the liquid hydrogen tank
meets the intertank.
Cracked intertank stringers were identified during shuttle Discovery's
first launch attempt in November 2010 and delayed its launch until
the problem was resolved. X-ray inspection of the intertank stringers
provides additional confidence that there are no stringer cracks in
Atlantis' tank. The stringers located where the liquid oxygen tank
meets the intertank were modified with extra material to add strength
and do not require inspection.
The 12-day mission also will deliver an experiment designed to
demonstrate and test the tools, technologies and techniques needed to
robotically refuel satellites in space, even satellites not designed
to be serviced. The crew also will return an ammonia pump that
recently failed on the station. Engineers want to understand why the
pump failed and improve designs for future spacecraft.
Chris Ferguson, a veteran of two previous shuttle missions, will
command the flight. Doug Hurley will serve as the pilot, a role he
filled on STS-127 in 2009. Sandy Magnus and Rex Walheim will be the
mission specialists. Magnus spent 4.5 months aboard the station
beginning in November 2008. Walheim flew on STS-110 in 2002 and
STS-122 in 2008.
STS-135 will be Atlantis' 33rd mission and the 37th shuttle flight
dedicated to station assembly and maintenance. It will be the 135th
and final mission of NASA's Space Shuttle Program.
Reporters must apply for STS-135 media credentials to attend the
launch or cover the mission from other NASA centers. To be
accredited, reporters must work for verifiable news-gathering
organizations. No substitutions of credentials are allowed at any
NASA facility.
Journalists who are lawful permanent residents, have dual or multiple
U.S. citizenship or are U.S. citizens representing international
media outlets will have their credential applications processed in
the same manner as U.S. citizens who represent domestic media.
Additional time may be required to process accreditation requests by
journalists from certain designated countries. Designated countries
include those with which the United States has no diplomatic
relations, countries on the State Department's list of state sponsors
of terrorism, those under U.S. sanction or embargo and countries
associated with proliferation concerns. Please contact the
accrediting NASA center for details. Journalists should confirm they
have been accredited before traveling.
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER
Reporters applying for credentials at Kennedy should submit requests
via the Web at:
https://media.ksc.nasa.gov
Reporters must use work e-mail addresses, not personal accounts, when
applying. After accreditation is approved, applicants will receive
confirmation via e-mail.
Accredited media representatives with mission badges will have access
to Kennedy from launch through the end of the mission. The
application deadline for mission badges is June 26.
Reporters with special requests for Kennedy, such as space for
satellite trucks, trailers, electrical connections or workspace, must
contact Laurel Lichtenberger by June 26 at:
laurel.a.lichtenberger@nasa.
Wireless Internet access is available at Kennedy's news center.
However, access may be limited at times due to volume. Reporters
should have alternate wireless resources. Workspace in the news
center and the news center annex is provided on a first-come basis,
limited to one space per organization. To set up temporary telephone,
fax, ISDN or network lines, media representatives must arrange with
BellSouth at 800-213-4988.
Reporters must have an assigned seat in the Kennedy newsroom prior to
setting up lines. To obtain an assigned seat, contact Jennifer Horner
at: jennifer.p.horner@nasa.gov.
Journalists must have a public affairs escort to all other areas of
Kennedy except the Launch Complex 39 cafeteria.
JOHNSON SPACE CENTER
Reporters may obtain credentials for NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston by calling the center's newsroom at 281-483-5111 or by
presenting STS-135 mission credentials from Kennedy. Media
representatives planning to cover the mission only from Johnson need
to apply for credentials only at the center. The application deadline
for mission badges is June 26.
Journalists covering the mission from Houston using Kennedy
credentials must also contact Johnson's newsroom by June 26 to
arrange workspace, phone lines and other logistics. Johnson is
responsible for credentialing media if the shuttle lands at NASA's
White Sands Space Harbor, N.M. If a landing is imminent at White
Sands, Johnson will arrange credentials.
DRYDEN FLIGHT RESEARCH CENTER
Notice for a shuttle landing at NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center
in Edwards Air Force Base in California could be short. Media outlets
should consider accrediting Los Angeles-based personnel who could
travel quickly to Dryden.
Deadlines for submitting Dryden accreditation requests are June 10 for
international journalists and July 13 for U.S. citizens or
journalists who have permanent residency status, regardless of their
media affiliation.
For Dryden media credentials, U.S. citizens or permanent resident
aliens representing bona fide media outlets must provide their full
name, date of birth, place of birth, media organization, driver's
license number with the name of the issuing state and the last six
digits of their social security number.
In addition, international journalists must provide either their
passport or visa number, country of issue and expiration date.
Journalists should e-mail requests to: DrydenPAO@nasa.gov. Requests
must include a phone number and business e-mail address for follow-up
contact.
NASA PUBLIC AFFAIRS CONTACTS:
Kennedy Space Center: Allard Beutel, 321-867-2468,
allard.beutel@nasa.gov
Johnson Space Center: Kylie Clem, 281-483-5111, kylie.s.clem@nasa.gov
Dryden Flight Research Center: Leslie Williams, 661-276-3893,
leslie.a.williams@nasa.gov
For information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station
For information about the STS-135 mission, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
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