NASA Space Shuttle Crew in Washington, Available for Interviews
NASA Headquarters in Washington will welcome space shuttle Discovery’s STS-131 astronauts for a visit Tuesday, May 25, through Thursday, May 27. Their 15-day mission of more than 6.2 million miles wrapped up on April 20. The crew includes Rockville, Md., native Alan Poindexter and Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, the last of three teachers selected as educator astronauts to fly on the shuttle.
On Tuesday, Metcalf-Lindenburger, STS-131 Commander Poindexter, Pilot Jim Dutton and Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Stephanie Wilson and Clay Anderson will be available for media interviews from 10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. EDT at NASA Headquarters, 300 E St. SW. At 2 p.m. Tuesday, the crew will share mission highlights with NASA employees, their families and reporters at NASA Headquarters’ James E. Webb Auditorium. The crew’s presentation will be broadcast live on NASA Television.
Reporters interested in interviewing a crew member or covering the presentation should contact NASA’s Office of Communications at 202-358-1100.
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Naoko Yamazaki and her STS-131 crewmates in Washington will attend an educational event from 1-1:50 p.m. on Thursday at the Japan Information and Culture Center at the Embassy of Japan, 1155 21st Street, N.W. The astronauts will discuss the mission with about 150 U.S. elementary school students and other guests. Journalists are invited to attend. For more information, please contact the Japan Information and Culture Center at 202-238-6949, or e-mail jiccrsvp@ws.mofa.go.jp.
The STS-131 mission to the International Space Station delivered science racks, new crew sleeping quarters, equipment and supplies. During three spacewalks, the crew installed a new ammonia storage tank for the station’s cooling system, replaced a gyroscope for the station’s navigation system and retrieved a Japanese experiment from outside the Kibo laboratory for examination on Earth.
For NASA TV schedule information and links to streaming video, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
For more information about the STS-131 mission, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle
