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Melissa Motichek
Headquarters, Washington          April 11, 2003
(Phone: 202/358-1272, -1141)

Rob Navias
Johnson Space Center, Houston
(Phone: 281/483-8651)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N03-039

NASA PRESENTS SPACE STATION CREW ROTATION PLAN

The next human journey to the International Space Station, and an
unprecedented landing by U.S. astronauts in a Russian spacecraft,
will be the subject of a briefing at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 17
at the Johnson Space Center, Houston. The briefing will be broadcast
on NASA Television with multi-center question-and-answer capability
for reporters at NASA centers. 

Officials will offer a detailed preview of the upcoming launch and
mission of Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight
Engineer/NASA International Space Station Science Officer Ed Lu.
Malenchenko and Lu are scheduled to liftoff from the Baikonur
Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 26 in a Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft.
They will dock with the Space Station on April 28. 

The briefing will also review the more than 22 week Expedition 6
mission, provide details about their return to Earth, and
post-landing rehabilitation of Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight
Engineer/Soyuz Commander Nikolai Budarin and NASA International Space
Station Science Officer Don Pettit. They are scheduled to land on the
steppes of Kazakhstan on May 4 in their Soyuz TMA-1 capsule, now
docked at the Station. Their landing will mark the first time U.S.
astronauts will leave orbit in a Soyuz vehicle. The Expedition 6 crew
will undock from the Station after a six-day handover with Expedition
7 counterparts. 

The participants for the April 17 briefing are:

*  William Gerstenmaier, International Space Station Program Manager
*  Merri Sanchez, Expedition 7 Increment Manager
*  Melissa Gard, Expedition 6 Increment Manager
*  Dr. Neal Pellis, International Space Station Program Scientist
*  Dr. Terrance Taddeo, NASA Flight Surgeon

Prior to the start of the briefing, at 1:30 p.m. EDT, B-roll footage
and graphics that are pertinent to the briefing will be fed on NASA
TV.

On Friday, April 18, NASA Television will air a pre-launch news
conference with Expedition 7 crewmembers Malenchenko and Lu, which
will be recorded earlier in the day at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training
Center in Star City, Russia. The news conference will be broadcast at
9 a.m. EDT. Video B-roll footage of the Expedition 7 crew's prelaunch
activities at the Baikonur Cosmodrome will be seen on the NASA TV
Video File, beginning on Wednesday, April 23.

NASA Television is broadcast on AMC-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees
West longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz,
and audio of 6.8 MHz.

For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov

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