Feb 8 2018

From The Space Library

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Current revision

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-025 NASA TV to Air US Spacewalk at the International Space Station

Two astronauts will venture outside the International Space Station Thursday, Feb. 15, to move components for the station’s robotic system into long-term storage. Live coverage of the spacewalk will begin at 5:30 a.m. EST on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Expedition 54 Flight Engineers Mark Vande Hei of NASA and Norishige Kanai of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency are scheduled to begin the spacewalk at 7:10 a.m. and finish about 1:40 p.m.

The two spacewalkers will move a Latching End Effector (LEE), or hand, for the Canadian-built robotic arm, Canadarm2, from a payload attachment on the station’s Mobile Base System rail car to the Quest airlock. This LEE was replaced during an Expedition 53 spacewalk in October 2017, and will be returned to Earth to be refurbished and returned to the orbiting laboratory as a spare.

They also will move an aging, but functional, LEE that was removed during a Jan. 23 spacewalk from its temporary storage outside the airlock to a long-term storage location where it will be available as a spare part for the Mobile Base System, which is used to move the arm and astronauts along the station’s truss structure.

The spacewalk originally was scheduled Jan. 29 but was postponed when a new LEE installed during the Jan. 23 spacewalk encountered startup issues. Those issues were resolved Jan. 27 through software updates written by Canadian Space Agency robotics specialists.

The spacewalk will be the 208th in support of space station assembly and maintenance and the third station spacewalk this year. The spacewalk will be the fourth spacewalk in Vande Hei’s career and the first for Kanai, who will become the fourth Japanese astronaut to walk in space. Vande Hei will wear the suit bearing the red stripes and Kanai’s suit will have no stripes.

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-022 Feb. 12 ‘State of NASA’ Events Highlight Agency Goals for Space Exploration

NASA centers across the country are opening their doors Monday, Feb. 12, to media and social media for “State of NASA” events, including a speech from acting NASA Administrator Robert Lightfoot, and unique opportunities for a behind-the-scenes look at the agency’s work. These events follow President Trump’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal delivery to the U.S. Congress.

Events at NASA centers will include media tours and presentations on the agency’s exploration goals for the Moon, Mars and worlds beyond, the innovative technologies developed and under development, as well as the scientific discoveries made as NASA explores and studies Earth and our universe, and continues to make advancements in next-generation air travel.

Lightfoot will provide a “State of NASA” address to the agency’s workforce at 1 p.m. EST from Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama. His remarks will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Following Lightfoot’s address, media and social media will be able to tour Marshall facilities, including testing and manufacturing facilities for NASA's new deep space rocket, the Space Launch System, and the International Space Station. Other NASA centers also will host media and social media tours following Lightfoot’s remarks.

Media interested in attending the Marshall event should contact Kimberly Newton at 256-544-0034 or kimberly.d.newton@nasa.gov no later than 10 a.m. CST Friday, Feb. 9. Attending media must arrive at Gate 9 of the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at the Interstate 565 interchange of Rideout Road and Research Park Boulevard no later than 11 a.m. CST Monday for badging and security clearance. Media must provide one form of government-issued photo identification for badging. Access to the post requires proof of vehicle insurance.

Also on Monday, at 5 p.m. EST, NASA’s acting Chief Financial Officer Andrew Hunter will brief media during a teleconference on the agency’s Fiscal Year 2019 budget proposal. To participate in this briefing, media must contact Karen Northon in the NASA Headquarters newsroom at karen.northon@nasa.gov no later than 3 p.m. Monday.

MEDIA ADVISORY M18-026 NASA Hosts News Conference, Interviews with Crew Launching to Space Station in June

NASA astronaut Serena Auñón-Chancellor, along with Alexander Gerst of ESA (European Space Agency), and Sergey Prokopyev of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will participate in a news conference at 2 p.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 14, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. The news conference will air live on NASA Television and stream on the agency’s website.

Following the news conference, interview opportunities are available with all crew members, in person or by phone.

The trio is scheduled to launch to the International Space Station in June and will be part of Expeditions 56 and 57. This will be the first trip to the space station for Auñón-Chancellor and Prokopyev, and the second for Gerst.

Media who would like to participate in person or reserve an interview opportunity must contact Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 4 p.m. Monday, Feb. 12. Because the deadline for international media accreditation has passed, only U.S. media will receive credentials to participate in person. Media who wish to participate in the news conference by telephone must call Johnson's newsroom no later than 1:45 p.m. Feb. 14. Those following the briefing on social media may submit questions via Twitter using #askNASA.

During her upcoming mission aboard the orbiting laboratory, Auñón-Chancellor and her crewmates will facilitate more than 250 research investigations and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth. The experiments yield benefits for all of humanity and will enable future long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space.

Originally from Fort Collins, Colorado, Auñón-Chancellor earned a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from The George Washington University in Washington, D.C, and a doctorate in medicine from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston’s McGovern Medical School. She was selected as an astronaut by NASA in 2009, after coming to NASA in 2006 as a flight surgeon.