NASA News: NASA Awards Environmental Compliance And Operations Contract

HOUSTON -- NASA has selected Navarro Research and Engineering Inc. of
Oak Ridge, Tenn., to provide environmental management and services at
the agency's White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, N.M.

The White Sands Test Facility Environmental Compliance and Operations
contract calls for a fixed-price one-year and seven month base period
with a potential value of $3.1 million, and four one-year options
with a total potential fixed-price value of $6.6 million. Based on
variable funding and work requirements, the entire maximum potential
value of the contract is $80 million.

Navarro's work includes hazardous waste management and operating
permit compliance; management of the large-scale groundwater
monitoring program; environmental clean-up projects and field
investigations; air permit and emission inventory requirements;
drinking water system compliance; petroleum tank system management;
National Environmental Policy Act project evaluations; and recycling,
waste minimization and pollution prevention.

This is a new contract award (NNJ11HB30C) as a result of Protest
B-404880.1, B-404880.2 and the Agency Corrective Action Plan filed
with the U.S. Government Accountability Office on May 24. Due to the
protest, the period of performance is revised from the original
two-year base period. The base period of performance for the contract
is now one-year and seven months and is scheduled to begin on Sept. 1
and extend through April 30, 2013. One-year options are available
during the following four years. The contract is an
indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity contract with
cost-plus-fixed-fee and fixed-price task orders. The significant
subcontractor on the contract is URS Group Inc. of Oak Ridge.

For more information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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Next Space Station Crew Available For Media Interviews

HOUSTON -- The next crew to launch to the International Space Station
will hold a news conference at 1 p.m. CDT on Wednesday, July 27 at
NASA's Johnson Space Center. The briefing will be broadcast live on
NASA Television and the agency's website. Reporters may ask questions
from participating NASA centers or by phone.

NASA astronaut Dan Burbank and Russian cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov and
Anatoly Ivanishin are set to launch aboard a Soyuz TMA-22 spacecraft
on Sept. 22. The three Expedition 29 crew members will participate in
round-robin interviews. To reserve an interview opportunity, U.S.
media representatives must contact the Johnson newsroom at
281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. Monday, July 25.

To participate in the news conference from a NASA center, U.S.
journalists must call the center's public affairs office by 5 p.m.
local time on Tuesday, July 26. Reporters participating in the
briefing by phone must be credentialed by a NASA center and call the
Johnson newsroom by 12:45 p.m. on Wednesday, July 27.

Burbank also will be available for live satellite interviews between
3:10 and 4:30 p.m. on July 27. NASA TV will air b-roll footage of
Expedition 29 mission preparations beginning at 2:30 p.m. that day.
To participate in Burbank's satellite interviews, reporters must
contact Stephanie Stoll at 281-483-9071 or stephanie.r.stoll@nasa.gov
by 3 p.m. on July 26.

Burbank, Shkaplerov and Ivanishin are three of six crew members who
will comprise Expeditions 29 and 30. Aboard the station, they will
join Expedition 29 NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, Japan Aerospace
Exploration Agency astronaut Satoshi Furukawa and cosmonaut Sergei
Volkov, who will stay aboard the station until November.

Burbank's live satellite interviews will air on NASA's Live Interview
Media Outlet channel. The channel is a digital satellite C-band
downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 3,
transponder 9C, located 87 degrees west, downlink frequency 3865.5
MHz based on a standard C-band, horizontal downlink polarity. FEC is
¾, data rate is 6.0 Mbps, symbol rate is 4.3404 Msps, transmission
DVB-S, 4:2:0.

For astronaut and cosmonaut biographical information visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/bios

For NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the international Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

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NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE SCHEDULED TO RETURN TO EARTH FOR FINAL TIME THURSDAY

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- The final flight of NASA's 30-year-old space
shuttle program is scheduled to end on Thursday, July 21, when
Atlantis and its STS-135 crew return to Earth. The landing at NASA's
Kennedy Space Center in Florida marks the completion of a 13-day
mission to supply the International Space Station for the post-shuttle era.

Thursday's Kennedy landing opportunities are at 5:56 a.m. and 7:32
a.m. EDT. Atlantis' entry flight control team, led by Flight Director
Tony Ceccacci, will evaluate weather conditions at the landing site
before giving approval to Atlantis to return. If the shuttle is
unable to come home Thursday, additional opportunities are available
on Friday at Kennedy and at the backup landing site, Edwards Air
Force Base in California. Recorded updates about landing are
available at 321-867-2525.

Journalists are invited to cover news briefings and special events to
commemorate the historic event. To cover landing at the Shuttle
Landing Facility (SLF) runway, reporters must sign up at Kennedy's
press site for transportation. NASA will accommodate as many news
media representatives as possible, but the number is limited because
of safety requirements.

At about 7:45 a.m., NASA Administrator Charles Bolden and STS-135
Commander Chris Ferguson will make comments at the shuttle runway.
The remarks will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

From about 8 - 9 a.m. on Thursday, following the astronaut's departure
from the shuttle runway, a limited number of journalists at the SLF
will be allowed near Atlantis for a photo opportunity and comments
from Bolden and Kennedy Space Center Director Bob Cabana. Interested
journalists must e-mail Allard Beutel allard.beutel@nasa.gov by 5
p.m. Wednesday. Space is limited.

At 10 a.m., NASA officials will hold a briefing at Kennedy's press
site to discuss Atlantis' STS-135 mission. The event will be
broadcast live on NASA TV and the agency's website. The participants will be:

- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations,
NASA Headquarters
- Bob Cabana, director, Kennedy Space Center
- Mike Moses, space shuttle launch integration manager
- Mike Leinbach, space shuttle launch director

Also at about 10 a.m., Atlantis will be towed from the runway and
parked outside Orbiter Processing Facility-2 (OPF-2) for several
hours to give employees an opportunity to walk around and photograph
the shuttle. Reporters interested in covering the move must sign up
at the press site for transportation to the photo opportunity
locations. These events will not be carried live on NASA TV.

At 11:45 a.m., Bolden and Cabana will host an employee appreciation
event outside OPF-2. Journalists can cover the event from a
designated media area near the main stage. News media representatives
interested in covering the event must sign up at the press site for
transportation. The event will be broadcast live on NASA TV and the
agency's website.

At about noon, following opening comments at the employee event, the
STS-135 crew is expected to participate in a post-landing news
conference from the press site. The astronauts' availability is
subject to change. Immediately after a 20 minute media
question-and-answer session, the astronauts will go to the employee
appreciation event to talk briefly to the work force. The events will
be broadcast live on NASA TV and the agency's website.

The Kennedy press site will open for shuttle Atlantis' landing at 8
a.m. Wednesday and remain open until 6:30 p.m. Thursday. News media
representatives approved for STS-135 mission badges can pick them up
at NASA's Pass and Identification Building on State Road 3 on
Wednesday from 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. and Thursday from 2 - 4 a.m. The last
bus will depart from the press site for the SLF about one hour before landing.

If the shuttle landing is diverted to Edwards after Thursday,
reporters should call the public affairs office at NASA's Dryden
Flight Research Center at 661-276-3449 for access. Dryden has limited
facilities available for previously accredited journalists.

If Atlantis lands Thursday, it will have spent 307 days in space and
traveled nearly 126 million miles during its 33 flights. Atlantis
launched on its first mission on Oct. 3, 1985. For the latest
information about the STS-135 mission and accomplishments, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

The NASA News Twitter feed is updated throughout the shuttle mission
and landing. To follow, visit:

http://www.twitter.com/NASA

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming
video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the space station and its crew, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

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NASA Book Available For Visually Impaired To Learn About Moon

MOFFET FIELD, Calif. -- NASA has released a new book for visually
impaired people to experience the wonders of the moon.

Called "Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters," the 17-page book features
Braille and tactile diagrams of the lunar surface, craters and peaks.

The book was created and funded by NASA's Lunar Science Institute
(NLSI), at Moffett Field, Calif. The author is David Hurd, a space
science professor at Edinboro University of Pennsylvania in Edinboro, Pa.

"This book is one giant step for humankind, making lunar science
visible through touch and sound," NLSI Director Yvonne Pendleton
said. "NASA is committed to the development of resources to bring
lunar science into the world of those who cannot see."

To obtain a free copy of "Getting a Feel for Lunar Craters," visit:

http://lunarscience.nasa.gov/tactile

NLSI is a virtual organization that enables collaborative,
interdisciplinary research in support of NASA lunar science programs.
The institute uses technology to bring scientists together around the
world and comprises competitively selected U.S. teams and several
international partners. NASA's Science Mission Directorate and the
Exploration Systems Mission Directorate in Washington fund NLSI,
which is managed by NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field,
Calif. For more information about the NLSI, visit:

http://lunarscience.nasa.gov

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