LOCAL NASA CENTER READY TO SUPPORT UPCOMING SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION

Ed Campion / Rani Chohan
June 26, 2006
Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.
Phone: 301-286-8955

RELEASE: 06-49

LOCAL NASA CENTER READY TO SUPPORT UPCOMING SPACE SHUTTLE MISSION

This coming Saturday, Space Shuttle Discovery is scheduled to launch from
NASA's Kennedy Space Center at 3:49 p.m. EDT on a mission to the
International Space Station.

The fight, desiginated STS-121, is the first mission in almost one year and
while Florida is the launch site and Houston is home to Mission Control,
critical flight support activities will happen locally at NASA's Goddard
Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.

From liftoff through landing, the astronauts aboard Discovery along with the
thousands of people supporting the flight at ground stations will depend on
Goddard personnel to manage complex communications to both Discovery and the
space station. The system, known as the Spaceflight Tracking Data Network,
allows NASA to monitor shuttle systems, send flight commands and navigation
instructions, relay scientific data, support voice communications from
astronauts to mission control and send video and television feeds.

As the shuttle and space station orbit the Earth, the Goddard team monitors
and continually adjusts the communication pathways to ensure that command,
tracking, telemetry, video, and voice communications are clear and secure.

Communication antennas don't just automatically lock on the shuttle and
follow the spacecraft where it goes. Goddard's Flight Dynamics Facility
updates the network regularly on the shuttle's location.

News media representatives wishing to do interviews with NASA personnel or
wanting to be at Goddard for the launch or during the mission, should
contact the Goddard public affairs office as soon as possible at
301-286-8955 to arrange accreditation and access.

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Jacques :-)

www.spacepatches.nl