Media Invited to Cover NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Astronaut Visit to Marshall

	April 27, 2023  MEDIA ADVISORY 23-006 Media Invited to Cover NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 Astronaut Visit to Marshall The agency’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission NASA astronauts Nicole Mann and Josh Cassada, and JAXA (Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency) astronaut Koichi Wakata, will visit NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center Monday, May 1, to discuss their mission to the International Space Station as part of Expedition 68. Media are invited to attend a presentation from Crew-5 astronauts sharing highlights from their mission during a Marshall employee event at 10 a.m. CDT Monday, May 1. The crew members will also answer media questions at 11 a.m. following the employee engagement. Crew 5 Portrait 2023 From left: Anna Kikina, Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann and Koichi Wakata – the crew of NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission to the International Space Station – poses for a group photo along with the official mission patch. Mann, Cassada, and Wakata will visit NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Monday, May 1. Credits: NASA Members of the media interested in covering the visit should contact Lance D. Davis at 256-640-9065 or lance.d.davis@xxxxxxxx in the Marshall Office of Communications no later than 4:30 p.m. Friday, April 28. Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Research Park Boulevard by 9 a.m. on May 1. The events will take place in the Activities Building 4316. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate, so please allow extra time. All members of news media will need photo identification. Drivers will need proof of insurance. The international crew, which also included Roscosmos cosmonaut Anna Kikina, launched in October 2022 on NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 flight, the fifth commercial crew rotation mission to the International Space Station. The crew spent 156.5 days aboard the space station, traveled 66,577,531 miles, and completed 2,512 Earth orbits, splashing down off the coast of Tampa, Florida, on March 11. This was the first spaceflight for Mann, Cassada, and Kikina. It was the fifth flight for Wakata who has now logged a total of 505 days in space. Marshall’s commercial crew support team helped provide oversight to safety standards for the Crew-5 mission’s spacecraft, along with monitoring launch conditions. Marshall’s Payload Operations Integration Center – which operates, plans, and coordinates science experiments onboard the space station 365 days a year, 24 hours a day – also supported Crew-5, managing communications between the space station crew and researchers worldwide. blog_iss068e065044_alt.jpg Clockwise from left, Expedition 68 Flight Engineers Anna Kikina, Josh Cassada, Nicole Mann, and Koichi Wakata pose for a fun portrait aboard the station. Mann, Cassada, and Wakata will visit NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, on Monday, May 1. Credits: NASA Mann – who is a colonel in the U.S. Marine Corps and first indigenous woman from NASA to go to space – served as commander of the Crew-5 mission, conducting two spacewalks totaling 14 hours, 2 minutes. Cassada is a physicist and U.S. Navy test pilot who served as a flight engineer on the Crew-5 mission, conducting three spacewalks totaling 21 hours, 24 minutes. Wakata is the first Japanese astronaut to complete a long-term stay aboard station as a crew member of Expeditions 18, 19, and 20. From November 2013 to May 2014, he stayed aboard the orbiting laboratory for 188 days as a crew member of Expeditions 38 and 39. On Expedition 39, he led the international crew as the first Japanese space station commander. Kikina served as a Crew-5 mission specialist and Expedition 68 flight engineer. NASA's Commercial Crew Program has worked with several American aerospace industry companies to facilitate the development of U.S. human spaceflight systems since 2010. The goal is to have safe, reliable and cost-effective access to and from the International Space Station and foster commercial access to other potential low-Earth orbit destinations. Learn more about NASA’s SpaceX Crew-5 mission.
	Press Contacts Lance D. Davis Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, Alabama 256-640-9065 lance.d.davis@xxxxxxxx
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