Date: October 25th 2006

Oct 24, 2006

Katherine Trinidad Headquarters, Washington 202-358-3749

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

MEDIA ADVISORY: M06-168

NASA ROBOTICS OPERATOR DISCUSSES ROLE ON NEXT SHUTTLE FLIGHT

NASA astronaut Nick Patrick, who will operate the space shuttle's robotic arm during a mission targeted to launch in December, will be available for interviews by satellite from 7 to 8:45 a m EDT Friday, Oct 27

To participate, media should contact NASA's Johnson Space Center newsroom in Houston at 281-483-5111 by 5 p m EDT Thursday, Oct 26

A citizen of both Britain and the United States, Patrick considers London and Rye, N Y , his hometowns He will be making his first spaceflight on Discovery during mission STS-116 The mission will deliver a small section of the station's girder-like truss and rewire the complex to bring electricity on line from solar arrays delivered in September

Patrick has bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Cambridge, England, and a master's and doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Mass

Patrick was selected as an astronaut in 1998 Aboard Discovery, Patrick will use the shuttle's robotic arm to lift the new truss segment from the cargo bay for installation Among other tasks, he will also use the arm to inspect the shuttle's heat shield

He will be joined aboard Discovery by STS-116 Commander Mark Polansky, Pilot Bill Oefelein and mission specialists Joan Higginbotham, Suni Williams and Christer Fuglesang, a European Space Agency astronaut Williams will remain aboard the station for six months European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, currently aboard the station, will return to Earth on Discovery

For Patrick's biographical information, visit:

http://www jsc nasa gov/Bios/htmlbios/patrick html

Patrick's interviews will be carried live on the NASA TV analog satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude; transponder 5C, 3800 MHz, vertical polarization, with audio at 6 8 MHz B-roll video of his training for the mission will air at 6:30 a m EDT on Oct 27 For NASA TV downlink, schedules and streaming video information, visit:

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For more information about STS-116 and its crew, visit:

http://www nasa gov/shuttle

-end-

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