Melissa Motichek<br />Headquarters, Washington April 11, 2003<br />(Phone: 202/358-1272, -1141)<br /><br />Rob Navias<br />Johnson Space Center, Houston<br />(Phone: 281/483-8651)<br /><br />NOTE TO EDITORS: N03-039<br /><br />NASA PRESENTS SPACE STATION CREW ROTATION PLAN<br /><br /> The next human journey to the International Space Station, and an<br />unprecedented landing by U.S. astronauts in a Russian spacecraft, will be<br />the subject of a briefing at 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, April 17 at the<br />Johnson Space Center, Houston. The briefing will be broadcast on NASA<br />Television with multi-center question-and-answer capability for reporters<br />at NASA centers.<br /><br />Officials will offer a detailed preview of the upcoming launch and mission<br />of Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and Flight Engineer/NASA<br />International Space Station Science Officer Ed Lu. Malenchenko and Lu are<br />scheduled to liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on April 26<br />in a Soyuz TMA-2 spacecraft. They will dock with the Space Station on April<br />28.<br /><br />The briefing will also review the more than 22 week Expedition 6 mission,<br />provide details about their return to Earth, and post-landing<br />rehabilitation of Commander Ken Bowersox, Flight Engineer/Soyuz Commander<br />Nikolai Budarin and NASA International Space Station Science Officer Don<br />Pettit. They are scheduled to land on the steppes of Kazakhstan on May 4 in<br />their Soyuz TMA-1 capsule, now docked at the Station. Their landing will<br />mark the first time U.S. astronauts will leave orbit in a Soyuz vehicle.<br />The Expedition 6 crew will undock from the Station after a six-day handover<br />with Expedition 7 counterparts.<br /><br />The participants for the April 17 briefing are:<br /><br />* William Gerstenmaier, International Space Station Program Manager<br />* Merri Sanchez, Expedition 7 Increment Manager<br />* Melissa Gard, Expedition 6 Increment Manager<br />* Dr. Neal Pellis, International Space Station Program Scientist<br />* Dr. Terrance Taddeo, NASA Flight Surgeon<br /><br />Prior to the start of the briefing, at 1:30 p.m. EDT, B-roll footage and<br />graphics that are pertinent to the briefing will be fed on NASA TV.<br /><br />On Friday, April 18, NASA Television will air a pre-launch news conference<br />with Expedition 7 crewmembers Malenchenko and Lu, which will be recorded<br />earlier in the day at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City,<br />Russia. The news conference will be broadcast at 9 a.m. EDT. Video B-roll<br />footage of the Expedition 7 crew's prelaunch activities at the Baikonur<br />Cosmodrome will be seen on the NASA TV Video File, beginning on Wednesday,<br />April 23.<br /><br />NASA Television is broadcast on AMC-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West<br />longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 MHz, and audio<br />of 6.8 MHz.<br /><br />For more information about NASA on the Internet, visit:<br /><br />http://www.nasa.gov