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