July 30, 2007 John Yembrick Headquarters, Washington 202-358-0602 john.yembrick-1@xxxxxxxx Nicole Cloutier-Lemasters Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 nicole.cloutier-1@xxxxxxxx MEDIA ADVISORY: 07-096 FEMALE SPACE COMMANDERS AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS HOUSTON - The first female NASA astronauts to lead missions at the same time will be together for satellite interviews from 6 to 8 a.m. CDT on Thursday, Aug. 2. This fall, Peggy Whitson will command the International Space Station's Expedition 16 crew and Pam Melroy will command the space shuttle Discovery's STS-120 mission. To participate in the interviews, media should contact Tim Hinson at 281-483-5111 by noon on Aug. 1. Whitson will lift off in October aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft for her second long-duration space mission. She will return to Earth in April 2008 after six months aboard the station. Melroy is targeted to launch Oct. 20 on her third spaceflight, a 13-day shuttle mission to install Node 2, a pressurized module that is a connecting port and passageway to science labs and cargo spacecraft on the complex. She served as pilot on two prior shuttle flights. For Whitson and Melroy's biographical information, visit: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios The interviews will be conducted live via the NASA Television analog satellite. The NASA TV analog satellite is AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude; transponder 5C, 3800 MHz, vertical with audio at 6.8 MHz. For information about NASA and agency programs, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/ -end- To subscribe to the list, send a message to: hqnews-subscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx To remove your address from the list, send a message to: hqnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
