Press Release

News Conference Scheduled to Discuss Launch Readiness of New Space Station Module

By SpaceRef Editor
June 30, 2000
Filed under

Debbie Rahn

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-1638)

Eileen Hawley

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

(Phone: 281/483-5111)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N00-28

The status of the new Russian Zvezda Service Module, entering its final preparations for
launch to the International Space Station (ISS), will be discussed at a news conference at
the Russian Mission Control Center in Korolev, Russia, on Friday, July 7 at 6 a.m. EDT (2
p.m. Moscow time). The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA Television, but
questions can only be accommodated for reporters attending the news conference in
Korolev.

Zvezda, the Russian word for “star,” is the cornerstone of the start of permanent human
habitation of the ISS. The module is expected to be fueled for launch late next week at the
Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan and mated to its Proton launch vehicle to meet the
July 12 launch date agreed to at a General Designers Review held in Korolev earlier this
week.

The news conference is expected to feature participants representing NASA, the
Russian Aviation and Space Agency, RSC-Energia, the Khrunichev State Research and
Production Center, and the European Space Agency.

Additional details regarding Zvezda launch coverage on NASA TV and post-launch
briefings are being refined and will be provided in a subsequent launch advisory to be
issued next week.

NASA Television is available on GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude,
vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio of 6.8 MHz.

-end-

SpaceRef staff editor.