Space Shuttle Endeavour ferry flight from Dryden scheduled

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is tentatively scheduled to depart NASA’s Dryden
Flight Research Center at Edwards Air Force Base in Southern California
Tuesday morning atop one of NASA’s modified Boeing 747 Shuttle Carrier
Aircraft on the first leg of its ferry flight to the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida.

Current plans call for takeoff from Edwards to occur as early as 6 a.m.,
although it is possible the takeoff could be delayed an hour or two due to a
potential conflict with a test mission scheduled for the same time. An
intermediate refueling stop is planned at Dyess Air Force Base near Abilene,
Texas, with an overnight stop at Eglin Air Force Base near Ft. Walton Beach,
Florida. The 747-shuttle combination would then arrive at Kennedy on
Wednesday, May 9. The cross-country shuttle ferry flights are heavily
dependent upon weather conditions en route, and could be delayed until later
in the week if conditions deteriorate.

Endeavour landed at Edwards Air Force Base last Tuesday morning to conclude
mission STS-100 to the International Space Station after strong crosswinds,
cloudiness and rain prevented landing at the primary landing site in
Florida. Technicians are expected to complete mating of Endeavour to the
modified 747 carrier aircraft later today.

News media representatives planning to cover the ferry flight departure of
the Endeavour from Edwards should fax a request for accreditation on their
company letterhead immediately to (661) 276-3566 or phone the Dryden Public
Affairs Office at (661) 276-3449 no later than 3:30 p.m. today. Media should
plan to arrive at the Dryden public affairs office no later than 5 a.m. if
they wish to view a 6 a.m. takeoff. A media escort will depart the Dryden
Public Affairs Office at approximately 5:15 a.m. to convoy photographers,
videographers with hand-held equipment and reporters to the news media
viewing site near the main Edwards runway. We regret that we cannot support
live transmission of television coverage from the media site near the
runway.

Should the ferry flight departure be delayed, the latest estimated takeoff
time, along with the time news media representatives need to arrive on site,
will be posted on the Dryden news media update line at (661) 276-2564.