First Opportunity Tonight for Zvezda to Dock With International Space Station

KirstenWilliams/Carolyn Townsend

Headquarters, Washington, DC

(Phone: 202/358-0243/358-1781)

Ed Campion

Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX

(Phone: 281/483-5111)

NOTE TO EDITORS : N00-36

The first opportunity for the Russian Zvezda service
module to dock automatically with the International Space
Station will be tonight at approximately 8:44 p.m. EDT, a
few minutes earlier than the originally scheduled docking
time of 8:53 p.m. EDT.

Coverage of the first opportunity to mate Zvezda with
the space station will begin at approximately 8:00 p.m.
EDT on NASA Television. The docking of Zvezda, which
will serve as the living quarters for the first crew, is
the long-awaited first step toward permanent living and
working in space, and opens the pathway to new
discoveries. The first international crew to live aboard
the station, lead by American Commander Bill Shepherd,
will be ready to launch from Kazakhstan later this Fall.

Following a successful docking, NASA Television will
carry a press conference at approximately 9:15 p.m. EDT.
The news conference will be broadcast live on NASA TV,
with questions from reporters at the Russian Mission
Control Center in Korolev, Russia.

Live news interviews with astronaut Bob Cabana,
International Space Station Manager for International
Operations, are scheduled for Wednesday, July 26, 6:00
a.m. to 9:00 a.m. EDT, after the first opportunity for
docking. The live interviews will air even if another
docking opportunity is required. To request an
interview, please call Stephanie Zeluck at 281/483-9071.

NASA TV can be found on GE-2, transponder 9C, 85
degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, with a
frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio at 6.8 MHz.