July 1, 2008

Michael Curie Headquarters, Washington 202-358-4715 michael curie@nasa gov

Kyle Herring Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kyle j herring@nasa gov

MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-129

NASA SETS BRIEFING WITH NEXT STATION CREW, SPACEFLIGHT PARTICIPANT

HOUSTON -- NASA will hold a media briefing Wednesday, July 30, at 1 p m CDT, with the next resident crew of the International Space Station and an American spaceflight participant

The briefing will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and will be broadcast live on NASA Television Questions will be taken from news media at participating NASA sites

The briefing participants include: - Expedition 18 Commander and NASA astronaut Michael Fincke - Expedition 18 Flight Engineer and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lonchakov - Expedition 18 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Sandra Magnus - Expedition 18 Flight Engineer and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Koichi Wakata - Spaceflight participant Richard Garriott, who will fly to the station under a commercial agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency

Following the briefing, Fincke, Lonchakov, Magnus and Wakata will be available for individual round-robin interviews, in person or by phone There also will be a photo opportunity To participate in the interviews, news media should contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111, no later than 4 p m July 29

Foreign national media planning to attend the briefing in person must contact the Johnson newsroom by 4 p m July 8, to arrange credentials

On Oct 12, Lonchakov, Fincke and Garriott will launch to the station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft Garriott will return to Earth with Expedition 17 Commander Sergei Volkov and Flight Engineer Oleg Kononenko on Oct 23 in a Soyuz

Magnus will fly to the station on space shuttle mission STS-126, targeted to launch in November Wakata will replace Magnus on the station during the STS-119 mission in early 2009

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

http://www nasa gov/ntv

For information about the space station, visit:

http://www nasa gov/station

For information about NASA and agency programs, visit:

http://www nasa gov

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