Shuttle Space-Research Mission Briefings Set for June 28

In late July, Space Shuttle Columbia will carry a crew of seven astronauts on a 16-day science research mission. A series of press briefings beginning at 8 a.m. EDT June 28 will outline the flight and the scientific research that will be undertaken during the mission. The briefings will take place at NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, and NASA Headquarters, Washington, and will be broadcast live on NASA Television.

Columbia's 16-day mission, designated STS-107, will be dedicated to a mixed complement of competitively selected and commercially sponsored research in the space, life and physical sciences. An international crew of seven, including the first Israeli astronaut, will work 24 hours a day in two alternating shifts to carry out experiments in the areas of astronaut health and safety, advanced technology development, and Earth and space sciences.

Goddard's contribution to the STS 107 mission is the FREESTAR payload, for Fast Reaction Experiments Enabling Science Technology Applications and Research.

The FREESTAR payload will include six separate experiments mounted on a crossbay HH Multipurpose Equipment Support Structure (MPESS). The six experiments include:

… Mediterranean Israeli Dust Experiment (MEIDEX) - MEIDEX is managed by the Israeli Space Agency and Tel-Aviv University. MEIDEX is sponsored by NASA/HQ Code Y.

… The second flight of the Shuttle Ozone Limb Sounding Experiment-02 (SOLSE-02) - SOLSE is managed by NASA/GSFC Code 916, Atmospheric Chemistry and Dynamics Branch. The SOLSE experiment has previously flown on STS-87. SOLSE is a Hitchhiker Junior experiment.

… Critical Viscosity of Xenon-2 (CVX-2) - CVX-2 is managed by NASA/Lewis Research Center (LeRC). The CVX experiment has previously flown on the TAS-01 payload (STS-85).

… Solar Constant Experiment-3 (SOLCON-3) - SOLCON-3 is managed by the Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium. The SOLCON-3 experiment has previously flown on TAS-01 (STS-85), International Extreme Ultraviolet Hitchhiker-3 (STS-95), the first Spacelab mission, the Eureca platform and on Atlas missions.

… Space Experiment Module (SEM) - The SEM program is managed by the NASA/GSFC SSPPO.

… Low Power Transceiver (LPT) is managed by NASA/GSFC Code 567. LPT is sponsored by NASA/HQ Code M.

Goddard's Wallops Flight Facility manages NASA's Shuttle Small Payloads Project (SSPP). The SSPP designs, develops, tests, integrates and flies a group of small payload carrier systems for the Space Shuttle. These carriers - the Hitchhiker, Getaway Specials and Space Experiment Module - support payloads supplied by NASA, other US government agencies, universities, high schools, domestic commercial customers, and foreign nationals and governments.

The briefing schedule follows.

STS-107 Preflight Briefings -- June 28, 2002 (all times Eastern)

8-9 a.m. Mission Overview (from JSC)

9-10:20 a.m. Physical Sciences/Space Products Briefing (from NASA HQ)

10:20-11:45 a.m. Biological Sciences Briefing (from JSC)

12 noon - 1 p.m. Earth and Space Obs. Briefing (from NASA HQ)

1-2 p.m. Delta 2 / Contour Pre-launch News Conference (from NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla.)

2-3 p.m. Educational Activities Briefing (from NASA HQ)

3-4 p.m. Crew News Conference (from JSC)