UPDATE - NASA, Boeing, SpaceX Discuss Plan for Launching American Astronauts from the U.S. in 2017

(Updates how media can participate via phone)

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Jan 22, 2015, 05:03 ET

WASHINGTON, Jan. 22, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA, Boeing and SpaceX will hold a news briefing on NASA Television at the agency's Johnson Space Center in Houston at noon EST (11 a.m. CST) Monday, Jan. 26, to highlight key development activities, test plans and objectives for achieving certification of two American crew transportation systems.

Under Commercial Crew Transportation Capability (CCtCap) contracts for NASA's Launch America initiative, Boeing and SpaceX will develop safe and reliable crew transportation to and from the International Space Station on American spacecraft launched from the United States. This initiative returns the American industry to the forefront of human exploration technology and operations and ends the nation's sole reliance on Russia for crew transportation to the space station.

The panelists are:

NASA Administrator Charles Bolden
Johnson Space Center Director Ellen Ochoa
Commercial Crew Program Manager Kathy Lueders
Vice President and General Manager of Boeing Space Exploration John Elbon
President and Chief Operating Officer of SpaceX Gwynne Shotwell
NASA astronaut Mike Fincke

To participate in person at Johnson, reporters must contact Kyle Herring at 281-483-5111 or by email at [email protected] no later than 4 p.m. Friday.

Media who wish to ask questions by phone must call Johnson's newsroom at 281-483-5111 no later than 11:45 a.m. (10:45 a.m. CST) Monday.

Those following the briefing on social media can ask questions using the hashtag #askNASA.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For more information about NASA's Commercial Crew Program, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew

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SOURCE NASA