Kirsten Larson

Headquarters, Washington DC January 3, 2001

(Phone: 202/358-0243)

Eileen Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

NOTE TO EDITORS: N01-02

INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION TO MEET ITS "DESTINY": BRIEFINGS

JAN.
11

NASA's Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX, will hold a series

of briefings Jan. 11 to discuss the upcoming flight of Space
Shuttle Atlantis to deliver the U.S. laboratory, called Destiny,
to the International Space Station.

The 11-day STS-98 mission will see the station continue to grow in
both size and capability with the addition of its first research
facility. The 28-foot long, 16-ton research and command-and-
control center is the most sophisticated and versatile space
laboratory ever built. It will ultimately house a total of 23
experiment racks for crew support and scientific research that can
be removed and replaced periodically as experiment operations
warrant. This versatility will allow researchers from around the
world to conduct experiments in the unique microgravity
environment of space as never before.

The briefings will begin at 9 a.m. EST with an overview of the

International Space Station program. An overview of the mission
will begin at 10 a.m. and be followed at 11 a.m. by a briefing on
the Destiny laboratory. Following a break at 12 noon EST for the
daily NASA Video File, the briefings will continue at 12:30 p.m.
with an overview of the three space walks slated for this mission
to complete external outfitting of the orbiting laboratory. A
discussion of research aboard the ISS will begin at 1:30 p.m. In
the final briefing of the day, beginning at 2:30 p.m., Atlantis'
five astronauts will discuss their preparations for the upcoming
flight. All the briefings will be broadcast live on NASA
Television.

NASA TV is available through the GE-2 satellite, transponder 9C,

located at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, with
a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio at 6.8 MHz.

Following the STS-98 mission briefings, round-robin interviews

with the crewmembers will be held for reporters at JSC and
reporters who make advance arrangements to participate by phone.
Media wishing to participate in the round-robin interviews must
fax their request to the Johnson newsroom at 281/483-2000 no later
than 5 p.m. EST, Tuesday, Jan. 9.

STS-98 PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFINGS

Thursday, Jan. 11, 2001
(all times shown are EST)

9 a.m. International Space Station Program Overview

Tommy Holloway, International Space Station Program Manager
Bob Cabana, Deputy Program Manager, International
Operations

10 a.m. STS-98 Mission Overview

Robert Castle, Lead Shuttle Flight Director, STS-98
Andy Algate, Lead ISS Flight Director, STS-98

11 a.m. U.S. Destiny Laboratory Overview

Suzan Voss, STS-98 Launch Package Manager

12 p.m. NASA TV Video File (from NASA Headquarters, Washington,

DC)

12:30 p.m. STS-98 Space-Walk Overview

Kerri Knotts, STS-98 Lead EVA Officer

1:30 p.m. ISS Science Overview

Roger Crouch, ISS Chief Scientist, NASA Headquarters
John Uri, ISS Increment Scientist

2:30 p.m. STS-98 Crew News Conference

Ken Cockrell, Commander
Mark Polansky, Pilot
Robert Curbeam, Mission Specialist 1
Marsha Ivins, Mission Specialist 2

Thomas Jones, Mission Specialist 3

3:30 p.m. STS-98 Crew Round-Robin Interviews

(These interviews are local only and will not be carried
on NASA TV)

-end-