NASA/JSC Special Event Features STS-99 Astronauts

Doug Peterson

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

Phone: 281/483-5111

Release: J00-15

NOTE TO EDITORS:

The public is invited to share in the excitement of the recently
completed radar mapping mission flown aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour
when the six member crew of STS-99 shares its flight memories at 6:30
p.m. March 23 at Space Center Houston. In a special ceremony in Space
Center Houstonís IMAX Theater, the astronauts will receive their Space
Flight Medals, and other space workers will be recognized with awards
from Johnson Space Center Director George W.S. Abbey. The Endeavour crew
will narrate a slide show presentation and video about the Space Radar
Topography Mission and take questions from the audience. During their
11-day flight, the STS-99 crew — Commander Kevin Kregel, Pilot Dom
Gorie, and Mission Specialists Janice Voss, Janet Kavandi, Gerhard
Thiele and Mamoru Mohri — collected more than 222 hours of
around-the-clock radar mapping data. The coverage area extended from
Hudson Bay in the north to the tip of South America, an area equal to
47.6 million square miles. The information gathered by Endeavour’s crew
is enough to fill more than 20,000 CDs and will be used to produce
global maps more accurate than any available today.

The event, sponsored by NASA’s Johnson Space Center begins promptly at
6:30 p.m. Due to limited seating and first-come, first-served admission,
visitors should arrive at Space Center Houston beginning at 6:00 p.m.
Those attending this event should call the NASA Information line at
281-483-8600 the week of March 20th to confirm that the event’s
scheduled time has not been changed due to other activities.

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