Michael Curie
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-4715
michae...@nasa.gov
Kyle Herring
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
kyle.j....@nasa.gov
Candrea Thomas
Kennedy Space Center, Fla.
321-867-2468
candrea....@nasa.gov
MEDIA ADVISORY: M08-181
NASA ANNOUNCES NEW TARGET LAUNCH DATES, STATUS NEWS CONFERENCE
WASHINGTON -- The target launch date for space shuttle Atlantis'
STS-125 mission to service the Hubble Space Telescope has been reset
to Oct. 14 at 10:19 p.m. EDT. A news conference is scheduled for
Friday, Oct. 3, at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to announce
an official launch date.
With the delay of Atlantis' launch from Oct. 10 to Oct. 14, shuttle
Endeavour's STS-126 supply mission to the International Space
Station, also will move from Nov. 12 to Nov. 16 at 7:07 p.m. EST. The
target launch date adjustments were made Wednesday during the Space
Shuttle Program's Flight Readiness Review, which concludes Thursday.
Detailed assessments were presented Wednesday by Mission Operations,
Flight Crew Operations, and training divisions affected by the
closure of the NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, as a result of
Hurricane Ike. While vehicle processing at Kennedy continues on
schedule, the lost week of training and mission preparation due to
the impacts of the storm led to the decision to slip the dates.
The Oct. 3 news conference will follow the Flight Readiness Review, a
meeting to assess preparations for the STS-125 mission to Hubble, and
will begin no earlier than 4 p.m. EDT.
The briefing participants are:
- Associate Administrator for Space Operations Bill Gerstenmaier
- Deputy Associate Administrator for Programs, Science Mission
Directorate Mike Luther
- Space Shuttle Program Manager John Shannon
- STS-125 Launch Director Ed Mango
NASA Television and the agency's Web site will broadcast the briefing
live. Media may ask questions from participating NASA locations.
Reporters should contact their preferred NASA center to confirm its
participation.
For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information,
visit:
For more about the two remaining shuttle missions of 2008, visit:
-end-