NASA Schedules News Conference About Next Space Shuttle Launch

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Mar 23, 2010, 02:46 ET

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla., March 23 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA managers will hold a news conference on Friday, March 26, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the status of the next space shuttle launch. The briefing will begin after the Flight Readiness Review, a meeting to assess preparations for shuttle Discovery's STS-131 mission to the International Space Station.

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Live status updates, including the start time for the news conference, will be provided during the meeting via the NASA News Twitter feed. To access the feed, go to the NASA.gov homepage or visit: http://www.twitter.com/nasa

The review is expected to include the selection of an official launch date. Discovery is targeted to launch at 6:21 a.m. EDT on Monday, April 5.

The briefing participants are:

- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations

- John Shannon, Space Shuttle Program manager

- Pete Nickolenko, STS-131 launch director

NASA Television and the agency's Web site will carry the live briefing. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations and should contact their preferred NASA center to confirm participation. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For STS-131 crew and mission information, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle

SOURCE NASA