NASA Sets Briefings on Station Crew Change, Soyuz Move

Mar. 20, 2007

Katherine Trinidad
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-3749

James Hartsfield
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111

MEDIA ADVISORY: M07-31

NASA SETS BRIEFINGS ON STATION CREW CHANGE, SOYUZ MOVE

HOUSTON - NASA will hold a pair of media briefings on Tuesday, March
27, to preview the upcoming exchange of crews aboard the
International Space Station.

At 1 p.m. CDT, NASA will preview the upcoming Expedition 15 mission. A
second briefing, set to begin at 2 p.m., will review the work done
during the current Expedition 14 mission aboard the station. The
briefings will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston,
and will be broadcast live on NASA Television. Questions will be
taken from media at participating NASA sites. Reporters should call
their preferred field center to confirm participation availability.

On March 29, the station's current residents will take a short ride in
the Soyuz TMA-9 spacecraft now docked at the complex. Soyuz Commander
Mikhail Tyurin, Expedition 15 Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria and
Flight Engineer Suni Williams will move the Soyuz from an
Earth-facing docking port on the Zarya module to a docking port at
the aft of the Zvezda module. The half-hour flight will be broadcast
live on NASA TV, beginning at 5 p.m.

The Soyuz move frees the Zarya docking port for the arrival of the
Expedition 15 crew, set to launch April 7 in a Soyuz from the
Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. Expedition 15 Commander Fyodor
Yurchikhin, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Oleg Kotov and
Spaceflight Participant Charles Simonyi will dock to the station
April 9. Lopez-Alegria, Tyurin and Simonyi will return to Earth April
20 in a Soyuz.

Williams, who has been aboard the station since December, will remain
with Yurchikhin and Kotov as a member of the Expedition 15 mission.

Participants in the March 27 briefings include:

1 p.m. - Expedition 15 Preview Briefing
-- Kirk Shireman, International Space Station Program deputy manager
-- Susan Brand, Expedition 15 increment manager
-- Bob Dempsey, Expedition 15 lead flight director

2 p.m. - Expedition 14 Recap Briefing
-- Ginger Kerrick, Expedition 14 lead flight director
-- Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist
-- Dr. Dave Alexander, Expedition 14 lead flight surgeon

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

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information on the station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

-end-

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