Dec 17 2010
From The Space Library
MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-112
TWIN BROTHER NASA ASTRONAUTS AVAILABLE FOR SATELLITE INTERVIEWS
HOUSTON -- For the first time, twin brothers are slated to be in space simultaneously early next year. Mark Kelly will be in command of the last scheduled space shuttle flight, and Scott Kelly in command of the International Space Station. The Kelly brothers will be available for live satellite interviews between 9:15 and 11:15 a.m. CDT Tuesday, Aug. 17. Scott Kelly is scheduled to launch to the space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Oct. 7 (Oct. 8 local time) for a six-month-long mission aboard the complex. He will serve as flight engineer for Expedition 25 and commander for Expedition 26. His twin brother Mark, commander of shuttle Endeavour's STS-134 mission, is scheduled to visit the station in February to deliver supplies and the Alpha Magnetic Spectrometer. AMS is a device to study the universe's origin by searching for antimatter, dark matter, strange matter and measuring cosmic rays. If the launch schedule holds, the pair would be working together in orbit for eight days before the shuttle undocks and returns to Earth. To arrange an interview, reporters should contact producer Jeremiah Maddix at 281-483-8631 or by e-mail to jeremiah.m.maddix@nasa.gov by 5 p.m. Monday, Aug. 16. Video b-roll of the Kellys' previous missions and training will air on NASA TV Aug. 17 from 8:45 to 9:15 a.m. The Kellys, both captains in the U.S. Navy, were born Feb. 21, 1964, in Orange, N.J., and consider West Orange, N.J., their hometown. Scott has flown on two prior shuttle missions: as pilot of STS-103 in 1999 and as commander of STS-118 in 2007. Mark is a veteran of three prior shuttle missions: as pilot of STS-108 in 2001 and STS-121 in 2006, and as commander of STS-124 in 2008. The NASA Television Live Interview Media Outlet channel will be used for the interviews. The channel is a digital satellite C-band downlink by uplink provider Americom. It is on satellite AMC 3, transponder 9C, located at 87 degrees west, downlink frequency 3865.5 Mhz based on a standard C-band, horizontal downlink polarity. FEC is 3/4, data rate is 6.0 Mbps, symbol rate is 4.3404 Msps, transmission DVB-S, 4:2:0. The interviews also will be broadcast live on NASA TV. For streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv Scott and Mark Kelly are sharing their experiences via their respective Twitter accounts. Follow Mark at: http://twitter.com/shuttlecdrkelly Follow Scott at: http://twitter.com/stationcdrkelly For complete biographical information about Scott and Mark Kelly, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios
-end-
MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-124
NASA, NEWSEUM INVITE MEDIA TO DISCOVER AND ENCOUNTER COMETS
WASHINGTON -- NASA will commemorate a quarter-century of comet discoveries and discuss upcoming comet encounters during a symposium at 9 a.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 10, in the Knight Studio of the Newseum. The Newseum is located at 555 Pennsylvania Ave. NW in Washington. The event will be covered live by NASA Television and streamed on the agency's website. Comets are remainders of material formed in the coldest part of our solar system. Impacts from comets played a major role in the Earth's evolution, primarily during its early history billions of years ago. Some believe comets brought water and a variety of organic molecules to Earth. The symposium participants are: -- James Green, director, Planetary Science Division, NASA Headquarters, Washington -- Anita Cochran, assistant director, McDonald Observatory, University of Texas -- Robert Farquhar, executive for space exploration, KinetX, Inc., Tempe, Ariz. -- Mike A'Hearn, principal investigator for an upcoming NASA comet encounter mission, University of Maryland -- Joe Veverka, principal investigator for upcoming NASA comet encounter mission, Cornell University
-end-
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
'
