Penn State Astronaut Available For Interview From Johnson Space Center

3-30-98
University Park, PA -- Dr. Jim Pawelczyk, the first Penn State faculty member to be selected for astronaut duty, and the other STS-90 crew members will offer a press briefing on NASA TV beginning at 2:30 p.m. EST, April 2, originating from NASA's Johnson Space Center (JSC), Houston Texas.

The briefing will be followed, at 4 p.m., by a round robin interview session. While the round robin will be held primarily for reporters at the Johnson Space Center, others may make advance arrangements to conduct interviews by phone. Media representatives interested in the round robin interviews should fax their request (fax number: 281-483-2000) to Eileen Hawley at JSC Public Affairs by close of business March 31. The round robin interviews will not be seen on NASA TV.

The round robin interviews will be preceded by a series of background briefings starting at 9 a.m. EST which will be broadcast on NASA TV. NASA TV is available on GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 Mhz, and audio of 6.8 Mhz.

STS-90, also known as the Neurolab mission, is focused on expanding understanding of how the nervous system develops and functions in space. Research conducted by Pawelczyk, an assistant professor of kinesiology and physiology in Penn State's College of Health and Human Development, and others during the mission also will investigate applications to neurological disorders on Earth.

The mission's launch window opens at 2:19 p.m. EST on April 16 and lasts 2 hours. Following a nominal flight duration of 15 days, 21 hours, 50 minutes, Space Shuttle Columbia is scheduled to land at the Kennedy Space Center, Fla., on May 2 about 12:09 p.m. EDT.

STS-90 PRE-FLIGHT BRIEFINGS

Thursday, April 2, 1998

(All times shown are EST. All events will be broadcast on NASA TV except the round robin interviews)

9 a.m. Mission Overview - Al Pennington, STS-90 lead flight director

9:30 a.m. Neurolab Overview - Dr. Mary Anne Frey, NASA program
scientist and James McGuire, NASA program manager

10:30 a.m. Neurolab science briefing -- Dr. Jerry Homick, Neurolab mission scientist; Dr. Mel Buderer, JSC payload project scientist; Dr. Louis Ostrach, ARC payload project scientist

12 p.m. - NASA TV video file

2:30 p.m. STS-90 Crew Press Conference - Rick Searfoss, commander; Scott Altman, pilot; Rick Linnehan, payload commander; Kay Hire, mission specialist; Dave Williams,
mission specialist; Jay Buckey, payload specialist; and
Jim Pawelczyk, payload specialist.

4 p.m. STS-90 Crew Round Robins (Will not be carried on NASA TV)

Contacts:
Barbara Hale (814) 865-9481 (office) (814) 238-0997 (home) bah@psu.edu
Vicki Fong (814) 865-9481 (office) (814) 238-1221 (home) vyf1@psu.edu