STS-129 Press releases

• #20 by jacqmans on 18 Nov, 2009 14:22
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #03   
  
  HOUSTON – Atlantis astronauts Tuesday inspected the space shuttle’s thermal protection system, checked out spacesuits and prepared to dock with the International Space Station.
  
  Much of the day for Commander Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher Jr. was devoted to inspection of the shuttle’s heat-resistant tiles and reinforced carbon-carbon surfaces on the wing leading edges and the nose.
  
  Hobaugh, Wilmore and Melvin used the shuttle’s arm and its Orbital Boom Sensor System extension to survey Atlantis’ right wing. Bresnik, Foreman and Satcher checked out spacesuits.
  
  After the right wing scan Bresnik replaced Hobaugh on the survey team for detailed looks at the nose cap, the left wing and other areas while Foreman and Satcher kept working with the space-suits.
  
  After the inspections were complete and the boom was berthed, Melvin and Bresnik grappled the Express Logistics Carrier 1 in Atlantis’ cargo bay with the shuttle’s robotic arm to get ready for the ELC’s transfer to the station.
  
  Toward the end of their day, crew members extended the Orbital Docking System Ring and checked out rendezvous tools. Atlantis is scheduled to dock with the station a little before 11 a.m. CST on Wednesday.
  
  The Atlantis crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period at 7:28 p.m. Its docking day wakeup call is scheduled for 3:28 a.m.
  
  On the station the Expedition 21 crew, Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineers Jeffrey Williams, Nicole Stott, Maxim Suraev, Roman Romanenko and Robert Thirsk, was getting ready for Atlantis’ arrival. They will photograph the shuttle’s heat shield during its back flip on its approach. Stott will return to Earth aboard Atlantis.
  
  The next shuttle status report will be issued after Atlantis crew wakeup or earlier if warranted.
  
• #21 by jacqmans on 18 Nov, 2009 14:22
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #04   
  
  HOUSTON – The International Space Station is just a few hours away from receiving a shipment of spares that should help keep it going well into the future.
  
  Space shuttle Atlantis is scheduled to dock to the station at 10:53 a.m. and deliver two pallets carrying more than 20,000 pounds worth of spare equipment too large to be launched into space aboard any other vehicle.
  
  Atlantis’ six-man crew received their wake-up call at 3:28 a.m. Stevie Wonder’s “Higher Ground” was played for Mission Specialist Robert Satcher as the day’s wake-up song.
  
  The morning will focus on preparations for the rendezvous and docking to the station. Commander Charles Hobaugh and Pilot Barry Wilmore will perform a few final corrective jet firings to refine the orbiter’s path to the station and position the vehicle for its rendezvous pitch maneuver 600 feet beneath the station at 9:52 a.m. While Hobaugh performs the “backflip” Expedition 21 Flight Engineers Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott will take photos from the station. Their photos will be sent to the ground for review by experts to ensure that the shuttle’s heat shield did not sustain any damage during Monday’s launch.
  
  Once the maneuver is complete, Hobaugh will fly Atlantis ahead of the space station and slowly back it in for the docking to the station’s Harmony node. After a series of leak checks that should take about two hours, the hatches between the two vehicles will be opened and the two crews will start their joint operations.
  
  Hatch opening will mark the end of Flight Engineer Nicole Stott’s two-and-a-half-month stint with the space station’s crew. She’ll officially become a member of the STS-129 crew, and the station will be manned by a five-person crew until Dec. 1, when Commander Franke De Winne and Flight Engineers Roman Romanenko and Robert Thirsk will depart the station in their Soyuz vehicle. Williams and Flight Engineer Maxim Suraev will be left behind to man the station alone until the rest of the Expedition 22 crew arrives on Dec. 23.
  
  Atlantis’ crew is scheduled to go to sleep just before 7:30 p.m. The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if events warrant.
• #22 by jacqmans on 19 Nov, 2009 12:10
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #05   
  
  HOUSTON – The space shuttle Atlantis docked with the International Space Station at 10:51 a.m. CST to deliver 14 tons of cargo that is essential for the continued operations of the orbiting laboratory.
  
  Atlantis Commander Charles Hobaugh guided the orbiter to a docking with a pressurized mating adaptor located on the station’s Harmony node as the two spacecraft were flying 220 miles above Earth between Australia and Tasmania.
  
  Prior to docking, when the orbiter reached a range of 600 feet from the station, Atlantis performed the nine minute Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver, or “backflip.” Hobaugh rotated the orbiter backwards, enabling space station astronauts Jeffrey Williams and Nicole Stott to take high resolution pictures of the shuttle heat shield. The images will be analyzed by experts and managers on the ground to assess the health of Atlantis’ thermal protection system tiles.
  
  The shuttle and station crews opened hatches and the Atlantis crew was welcomed onboard the space station at 12:28 p.m. The hatch opening signifies the end of Stott’s tenure as an Expedition 21 flight engineer. Now an STS-129 mission specialist, Stott will have spent a total of 91 days in space if Atlantis lands, as planned, on Nov. 27. She is the last station crew member to return to Earth on the space shuttle. Russian Soyuz spacecraft will be used for future station crew launches and landings.
  
  At 1:52 p.m. shuttle Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Randy Bresnik removed the Express Logistics Carrier 1 from Atlantis’ payload bay and at 2:25 p.m. handed it off from the shuttle robotic arm to the station robotic arm controlled by shuttle Pilot Barry Wilmore and station Flight Engineer Jeff Williams. They installed the carrier on the station’s Port 3 truss at 3:27 p.m.
  
  Before the shuttle crew’s scheduled sleep at 7:28 p.m., transfer of shuttle middeck supplies to the station will begin along with relocation of spacesuits that will be used for the three planned spacewalks. The crews will review the plan for tomorrow’s spacewalk, scheduled to be completed by Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher.
  
  
• #23 by jacqmans on 19 Nov, 2009 12:11
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #06   
  
  HOUSTON – After a night spent camping out in the Quest airlock, Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher are awake and into the final preparations for the first spacewalk of the STS-129 mission.
  
  Foreman, Satcher and the rest of Atlantis’ crew were awakened at 3:28 a.m. to the sound of The Newsboys’ song “In Wonder.” It was played for Mission Specialist Randy Bresnik, who will be choreographing today’s spacewalk from inside the station.
  
  The spacewalk is scheduled to begin at 8:18 a.m. and last 6.5 hours. During that time, Foreman and Satcher will be installing a spare S-band antenna structural assembly brought up in Atlantis’ cargo bay. The equipment will be stored on the Z1 segment of the station’s truss system, and to get it there Satcher will be riding the station’s robotic arm, driven by Mission Specialist Leland Melvin, Commander Charles Hobaugh and Pilot Barry Wilmore.
  
  Other tasks on the spacewalkers’ agenda include the installation of a set of cables for a future space-to-ground antenna on the Destiny laboratory and the replacement of a handrail on the Unity node with a bracket that will be used to route an ammonia cable required for the Tranquility node when it is delivered next year. Foreman and Satcher will also reposition a cable connector on the Unity node, troubleshoot a cable connection and lubricate two latching end effectors – one on the Japanese robotic arm and one on the mobile base that allows the station’s main robotic arm to travel to different worksites.
  
  Meanwhile, inside the station, further work will be going on to prepare the station for the arrival of the Tranquility node. While Satcher and Foreman are making adjustments on the exterior of the station, station Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams will be working at the port hatch of the Harmony node to rewire data, power and cooling lines and air flow connections that will be connected to Tranquility. Their task is also scheduled to take about 6.5 hours today, however that won’t be the end of it; De Winne and Williams will continue working on the project over several days during the STS-129 mission.
  
  The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if events warrant.
• #24 by jacqmans on 19 Nov, 2009 12:12
• MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-219
  
  SPACE SHUTTLE PILOT SET TO TALK WITH TENNESSEE STUDENTS FROM ORBIT
  
  WASHINGTON -- Congressman Bart Gordon and Tennessee Technological
  University in Cookeville will host a live conversation between more
  than 120 students and NASA astronaut Barry E. Wilmore on Sunday, Nov.
  22. Wilmore is the pilot of space shuttle Atlantis, which launched
  Nov. 16 on an 11-day mission to the International Space Station.
  Members of Wilmore's family also will attend the event.
  
  The live call from orbit will take place between 11:08 a.m. and 11:28
  a.m. CST. Twenty students, ranging from kindergarten to college age,
  will ask questions of Wilmore and fellow astronauts Nicole Stott and
  Leland Melvin. Stott has served as a flight engineer and member of
  the Expedition 21 crew living aboard the International Space Station
  for more than two months. She will return to Earth aboard Atlantis.
  Melvin is a mission specialist and crewmate of Wilmore's aboard
  Atlantis.
  
  Reporters interested in attending the event should contact Monica
  Greppin at 931-372-3214.
  
  Gordon is the chairman of the House Science and Technology Committee.
  Wilmore was born and raised in Gordon's district in Tennessee and
  earned bachelor's and master's degrees in electrical engineering from
  Tennessee Technological University.
  
  The downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the
  U.S. and abroad to improve teaching and learning in science,
  technology, engineering and mathematics. It is an integral component
  of NASAs Teaching From Space office. The office promotes learning
  opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community
  using the unique environment of human spaceflight.
  
  Tennessee Tech University and WCTE, the local PBS affiliate, will
  carry a live feed of the event at:
  
  http://www.tntech.edu
  
  and
  
  http://www.wcte.org
  
  
  For more information about Wilmore, visit:
  
  http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/wilmore-be.html
  
  
• #25 by Chris Bergin on 19 Nov, 2009 20:14
• MEDIA ADVISORY: M09-220
  
  SPACE STATION, SPACE SHUTTLE JOINT CREW NEWS CONFERENCE TUESDAY
  
  HOUSTON -- The 12 crew members aboard space shuttle Atlantis and the
  International Space Station will hold a news conference at 7:13 a.m.
  CST on Tuesday, Nov. 24.
  
  Reporters can ask questions from NASA's Johnson Space Center in
  Houston, Kennedy Space Center in Florida and headquarters in
  Washington. Journalists from Canada, Europe and Russia also will
  participate in the news conference. U.S. journalists must RSVP by
  calling the public affairs office at a participating NASA location by
  noon Nov. 23.
  
  NASA Television will provide live coverage of the 40-minute news
  conference. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video
  information, visit:
  
  
• #26 by jacqmans on 20 Nov, 2009 14:42
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #07   
  
  HOUSTON – Spacewalking Atlantis astronauts completed their planned work ahead of schedule Thursday and did a major additional task.
  
  Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Robert Satcher wound up the six-hour, 37-minute spacewalk at 3:01 p.m. CST. It was the first of three spacewalks scheduled for Atlantis’ mission to the International Space Station, a flight devoted largely to bringing sizeable spare parts to the station to be attached to its exterior.
  
  The focus of other Atlantis crew members, Commander Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Randy Bresnik, was mostly on supporting the spacewalk or related activities.
  
  Bresnik served as the intravehicular officer for the spacewalk, choreographing activities of his crewmates outside, while Melvin and Wilmore operated the station’s robotic arm. Hobaugh helped provide photo and television coverage of the spacewalk.
  
  The spacewalk officially began at 8:24 a.m. when Foreman and Satcher switched their suits to internal power. Their first task was to install a spare S-band antenna structural assembly on the station’s Z1 truss. That was completed about an hour ahead of schedule.
  
  The spacewalkers then separated. Foreman installed cables for a space-to-ground antenna on the Destiny laboratory and replaced a handrail on the Unity node with one having a bracket to route an ammonia cable for the Tranquility Node to be delivered next year. He also successfully connected a cable on the Unity Node, which in September had defied efforts by STS-128 astronauts.
  
  Satcher lubricated the latching end effector on the Japanese robotic arm and a similar attachment device on the station’s mobile base system. They were almost two hours ahead when the last scheduled task was completed.
  
  The get-ahead task, completed after spacewalkers visited the airlock to pick up required tools and recharge Foreman’s oxygen, involved installation of a Payload Attach System (PAS). It was one of three such jobs planned for the second spacewalk. Installation of this PAS, on the Earth-facing side of the Starboard 3 truss, had been scheduled as a 1.5-hour job on the Saturday spacewalk.
  
  Foreman and Bresnik are scheduled for that second spacewalk on Saturday while Satcher is to do the third spacewalk on Monday with Bresnik.
  
  Inside the station, Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineer Jeff Williams started work in the Harmony Node on data, power and cooling lines and air flow connections for Tranquility. That work is expected to continue for several days.
  
  
• #27 by jacqmans on 20 Nov, 2009 14:43
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #08   
  
  HOUSTON – Though it began a little later than planned, the STS-129 crew is awake and starting work on the day’s activities.
  
  Their wakeup call came at 3:28 a.m., which gave them 30 extra minutes intended to make up for sleep lost overnight when false depressurization caution alarms sounded on the International Space Station. That occurred just after 7:30 p.m., about 30 minutes after the crew began its sleep period.
  
  Although the flight control teams on the ground were able to determine that there was no depressurization occurring, the crew was never in any danger and ventilation fans were shutoff as a precaution. That shutoff kicked up dust that resulted in a fire alarm in the European Columbus laboratory also sounding.
  
  By 8:15 p.m., the flight control teams in Houston were working to bring the station back into its normal configuration, and Atlantis’ crew was told it could go back to sleep. The space station crew members were required to stay up a bit longer as the station’s ventilation system was reactivated. That work took a little over an hour, after which the station crew was able to resume its sleep period as well. Flight control teams are looking into the cause of the initial false alarm.
  
  The shuttle crew started its day today with a wakeup call to the tune of Sister Sledge’s “We Are Family,” which was played for Mission Specialist Leland Melvin.
  
  The day’s tasks will be unaffected by the night’s activities. As no focused inspection of the shuttle’s heat shield was required, the crew will be focusing on preparations for Saturday’s spacewalk. These tasks include recharging batteries, switching out Mission Specialist Robert Satcher’s spacesuit for that of Mission Specialist Randy Bresnik and reviewing procedures before Bresnik and Mission Specialist Mike Foreman begin their overnight campout in the Quest Airlock.
  
  In addition, the space shuttle’s robotic arm will be used to grab onto the second cargo pallet of spare equipment brought up by Atlantis in advance of its transfer to the space station on Saturday.
  
  Several crew members will also be talking with reporters on the ground over the course of the day. At 5:08 a.m., Commander Charles Hobaugh and Pilot Barry Wilmore will be talking with CBS News, FOXNews Radio and Nashville’s WTVG-TV. At 6:28 a.m., Melvin and Satcher will be interviewed by the Tom Joyner Morning Show. And at 3:33 p.m., Hobaugh, Melvin and Satcher will talk with ESPN’s SportCenter, Black Entertainment Television News and WRIC-TV in Richmond, Va.
  
  The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if events warrant. The crew is due to go to sleep just before 6:30 p.m.
• #28 by jacqmans on 21 Nov, 2009 06:55
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #09   
  
  HOUSTON – Preparations for the second spacewalk of Atlantis’ STS-129 visit to the International Space Station, transfer of material between the spacecraft and talks with media representatives helped keep astronauts busy Friday.
  
  The Atlantis crew, Commander Charles Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman, Robert Satcher Jr. and Nicole Stott, also tackled various maintenance, troubleshooting and science activities.
  
  Station Expedition 21 crew members, Commander Frank De Winne and Flight Engineers Jeffrey Williams, Maxim Suraev, Roman Romanenko and Robert Thirsk, joined in those activities.
  
  A little after 6 a.m., the shuttle’s robotic arm grappled Express Logistics Carrier 2 in the shuttle cargo bay. It will be handed off to the station arm Saturday and attached with its load of large spare parts to the outside of the station. Its sister carrier, ELC 1, was attached to the station on Thursday.
  
  Foreman and Bresnik, the Saturday spacewalkers, prepared spacesuits and configured tools for their excursion. Both crews spent an hour shortly before bedtime reviewing spacewalk procedures.
  
  Among spacewalk tasks will be installation of a second Payload Attachment System, this one on the upper part of the Starboard 3 truss. It was to have been done on the third spacewalk on Monday, but was moved to Saturday. The first PAS installation, initially scheduled for Saturday, was completed as a get-ahead task by Foreman and Satcher during the mission’s first spacewalk on Thursday. Satcher will be Saturday’s intravehicular officer.
  
  Other spacewalk jobs Saturday include installation of a Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing (GATOR) assembly, which is part of a demonstration of two ship Automatic Identification System receivers, relocation of a Floating Potential Measurement Unit and installation of a Wireless Video System transceiver.
  
  The movement of materials between Atlantis and the station continued to go well Friday. Well over half the mission’s transfer activities have been completed.
  
  Crew members participated in three chats with media representatives. Hobaugh and Wilmore spoke with CBS News, Fox News Radio and Nashville’s WTVG-TV shortly after 5 a.m. Melvin and Satcher were on the Tom Joyner Morning Show at about 6:30 a.m. A little after 3:30 p.m., Hobaugh, Melvin and Satcher talked with ESPN’s SportCenter, Black Entertainment Television News and WRIC-TV in Richmond, Va.
  
  Troubleshooting continued on Atlantis’ Orbiter Communication Adapter after difficulties with transmission of high-data-rate material. On the station, change out of circuit boards in the Human Research Facility rack was completed.
  
  The next shuttle status report will be issued after the Saturday crew wakeup call, scheduled for 2:28 a.m.
  
• #29 by jacqmans on 21 Nov, 2009 11:38
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #10   
  
  HOUSTON – An overnight interruption in their preparations will mean that Mission Specialists Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik will head out of the station’s hatch on the second spacewalk of the STS-129 mission a little later than planned.
  
  The International Space Station again experienced a false depressurization alarm that originated from the new Poisk Mini-Research Module overnight. The station’s automatic response resulted in a shutdown of ventilation systems, which led to two smoke detectors issuing a false alarm, as well – one in the Columbus European laboratory and one in the Quest airlock, where Foreman and Bresnik were camping out as part of the pre-breathe protocol that precedes spacewalks.
  
  The alarm sounded at 8:53 p.m., more than two hours after Atlantis’ crew went to sleep for the night. Emergency procedures required the spacewalkers to move out of the airlock while teams on the ground verified that the alarms were false. Although flight controllers in Houston were quickly able to determine that was the case, it was decided that it would take too long to get the airlock back in its normal configuration for it to be feasible for Bresnik and Foreman to spend the night there. Instead, they were instructed to stop their pre-breathe protocol and sleep elsewhere.
  
  In order to flush nitrogen from their blood steams – the job their campout in Quest would have accomplished – Bresnik and Foreman will instead be going through an exercise protocol, which requires them to spend 10 minutes on the station’s exercise bike while breathing pure oxygen from an air mask. They’ll spend a total of two hours and 20 minutes breathing the pure oxygen, which, when combined with the exercise, will help them avoid getting decompression sickness when they exit the station.
  
  They are scheduled to exit the station at 8:38 a.m. With 30 extra minutes in their sleep period to make up for sleep lost due to the alarms, the crew’s wakeup call came today at 2:58 a.m. The wakeup song, “Voyage to Atlantis” by The Isley Brothers, was played for Mission Specialist Bobby Satcher.
  
  Even though they are starting late, the spacewalkers plan to get all the scheduled tasks complete during what will now be a six-hour-long spacewalk. That is 30 minutes shorter than was originally planned, which means that they will not have extra time in the schedule for get ahead work.
  
  Foreman and Bresnik still intend to install the Grappling Adaptor to On-Orbit Railing assembly (or GATOR) on the Columbus module, relocate a floating potential measurement unit to the P1 truss segment, set up a cargo attachment system on the zenith face of the S3 truss segment and install a wireless video system external transceiver assembly.
  
  The other major task on the crew’s agenda today is the transfer of the second cargo pallet delivered by Atlantis to the space station – EXPRESS Logistics Carrier 2, or ELC2. That work is scheduled to get underway just before 6:45 a.m. The pallet contains 9,900 pounds of spare equipment for the station, including a control moment gyroscope, a nitrogen tank assembly, a pump module, a high pressure gas tank, a cargo transport container that holds 10 remote power control modules and a reel assembly for the station’s mobile transporter.
  
  ELC2 will be installed on the S3 segment of the station’s truss by the space station’s robotic arm, which will be driven by Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Nicole Stott.
  
  The next shuttle status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s workday or earlier if events warrant. The crew is due to go to sleep just before 6 p.m.
• #30 by jacqmans on 22 Nov, 2009 14:02
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #11   
  
  HOUSTON – It’s two down and one to go for Atlantis’ spacewalkers.
  
  Mike Foreman and Randy Bresnik wound up a successful 6-hour, 8-minute outing after completing their scheduled tasks ahead of schedule and get-ahead jobs. The official end of the spacewalk was at 2:39 p.m. CST. It was the second of the three scheduled during Atlantis’ visit to the International Space Station.
  
  The start was a little later than planned, about 8:30 a.m., because a false depressurization alarm had sounded on the station at 8:53 p.m. Friday, interrupting the crews’ sleep and the spacewalkers’ campout in the Quest airlock. The spacewalkers completed the process of reducing the nitrogen in their blood by doing exercise while breathing oxygen.
  
  The first job was installing an antenna assembly called GATOR on a Columbus module handrail. The assembly includes an antenna for a ship identification system and another for ham radio. With support from intravehicular officer Robert Satcher Jr., they completed that task about 40 minutes ahead of schedule.
  
  Then they relocated the station’s floating potential measurement unit to the Port 1 Truss. The device, which measures electrical potential of the station, was moved to make way for an alpha magnetic spectrometer to be delivered next year.
  
  Next, after a trip back to the airlock to recharge the spacesuits’ oxygen, was deployment of a payload attachment system on the upper part of the Starboard 3 (S3) Truss. The first PAS was deployed ahead of schedule during the Thursday spacewalk, so installation of the second, which had been scheduled for Monday’s spacewalk, was moved up to today.
  
  The PAS is a stowage system for spare parts. To set it up, the spacewalkers had to remove two braces, swing out the PAS from the truss on which it was launched, and then reattach the braces to support it in its new position.
  
  The final scheduled task of the spacewalk was installation of a wireless video system on S3. The system transmits video from the cameras on spacewalkers’ helmets. They finished that chore more than an hour ahead of schedule.
  
  Flight controllers added get-head tasks. The major one was deployment of a third PAS, this one on the Earth-facing side of S3. Most recently that job had been added to the third spacewalk, but the crew was so far ahead, they were told to do it Saturday. The task was accomplished smoothly and quickly.
  
  The crew also disconnected, examined, photographed and reconnected the troublesome antenna cable Discovery astronauts on STS-128 had been unable to hook up. Thursday spacewalkers had succeeded in mating the cable, but instrument readings were not as expected.
  
  Finally, the spacewalkers moved a tool stanchion on Pressurized Mating Adaptor 1, which links the U.S. and Russian segments of the station, and relocated an articulated portable foot restraint.
  
  Just before the beginning of the Saturday spacewalk, Express Logistics Carrier 2 was installed on S3 by the station’s robotic arm, operated by Mission Specialists Leland Melvin and Nicole Stott. It holds almost 10,000 pounds of large spares for the station, including an attitude-control gyroscope, a high-pressure oxygen tank and a pump module.
  
  A sister cargo carrier, ELC 1, also came to the station on Atlantis and was installed at about the time the first spacewalk began on Thursday.
  
• #31 by jacqmans on 22 Nov, 2009 14:02
• STS-129 MCC Status Report #12   
  
  HOUSTON – The six-member crew of Atlantis will have a half day to relax before getting ready for Monday’s third and final spacewalk.
  
  The crew was awakened this morning with the song “Butterfly Kisses,” by Bob Carlisle at 1:58 a.m. CST. It was selected for Mission Specialist Randy Bresnik.
  
  Later in the morning, Pilot Barry Wilmore and Mission Specialists Leland Melvin, Robert Satcher Jr. and Nicole Stott will answer reporters’ questions in interviews with WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., Bay News 9 in Tampa, Fla. and WBBM Radio in Chicago, Ill.
  
  Also planned is an opportunity for some Tennessee students to interact with Wilmore, Melvin and Stott. The educational question and answer session is being held at Tennessee Technological University in Cookeville. Wilmore is an alumnus of Tennessee Tech.
  
  In the early afternoon, Satcher and Bresnik will prepare spacesuits and tools and review the updated procedures for that third spacewalk. The spacewalk was replanned overnight after Bresnik and Foreman were able to get ahead on tasks during Saturday's spacewalk, including deploying a third payload attach system.
  
  Tonight Satcher and Bresnik will spend the night in the Quest airlock to prepare for Monday’s spacewalk. The crew is scheduled to begin its sleep period about 5:30 p.m.
  
  The next mission status report will be issued at the end of the crew’s day or earlier if warranted.
• #32 by jacqmans on 09 Jan, 2010 11:15
• MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-002
  
  NASA'S SPACE SHUTTLE CREW IN WASHINGTON, AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
  
  WASHINGTON -- NASA Headquarters in Washington will welcome space
  shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 astronauts for a visit on Monday, Jan. 11,
  through Thursday, Jan. 14. The crew wrapped up an 11-day journey in
  space of nearly 4.5 million miles on Nov. 27.
  
  Commander Charlie Hobaugh, Pilot Barry Wilmore, Mission Specialists
  Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Mike Foreman and Bobby Satcher will
  share mission highlights with NASA employees, school children,
  college students and the general public while in the nation's
  capital. Reporters interested in covering the events or interviewing
  a crew member should contact NASA Public Affairs at 202-358-1100.
  
  To kick off their visit, the crew will give a postflight presentation
  to NASA employees, their families and reporters at 10 a.m. EST,
  Monday, at NASA Headquarters' James E. Webb Auditorium, 300 E.
  Street, S.W. The crew's presentation will air live on NASA
  Television's education channel.
  
  On Tuesday, Melvin and Satcher will present mission highlights from
  9:30 to 10:30 a.m. at the Howard University School of Science and
  Mathematics on campus. For more information, please contact 2nd Lt.
  Janay Wilson at 202-806-6789.
  
  The crew also will attend the Washington Wizards game against the
  Detroit Pistons on Tuesday at the Verizon Center. They will
  participate in pregame activities and view the game, which is
  scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. The astronauts will bring with them an
  NBA jersey that was flown on their shuttle flight. The jersey is
  expected to be returned to the NBA during the All-Star game in
  Dallas.
  
  Wilmore, Foreman, Bresnik and Melvin will give a public presentation
  about their spaceflight from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Thursday at the
  National Air and Space Museum's new "Moving Beyond Earth" exhibit.
  The audience will consist of 250 students (grades 6th through 12th),
  visitors, employees and invited guests.
  
  The STS-129 shuttle mission included three spacewalks and the
  installation of two platforms to the International Space Station's
  truss, or backbone. The platforms hold large spare parts to sustain
  station operations after the shuttles are retired. The shuttle crew
  delivered about 30,000 pounds of replacement parts for systems that
  provide power to the station, keep it from overheating, and maintain
  a proper orientation in space.
  
• #33 by jacqmans on 22 Jan, 2010 20:17
• MEDIA ADVISORY: M10-013
  
  NASA ASTRONAUTS PRESENTING SPECIAL 'SPACE VETERAN' SUPER BOWL COIN
  
  WASHINGTON -- The crew of the space shuttle Atlantis' STS-129 mission
  will deliver a specially minted silver medallion to National Football
  League officials at 10 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Jan. 27, at the Pro
  Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio. The medallion will be used for
  the official coin toss prior to the kickoff of Super Bowl XLIV on
  Sunday, Feb. 7.
  
  Shuttle commander Charlie Hobaugh, a graduate of North Ridgeville High
  School near Cleveland, Pilot Barry Wilmore, Mission Specialists
  Leland Melvin, Randy Bresnik, Bobby Satcher and Mike Foreman, from
  Wadsworth, Ohio, returned from their 11-day space mission to the
  International Space Station on Nov. 27.
  
  The crew will present Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys jerseys and a
  football, inscribed with the name of every member of the Hall of
  Fame, which also accompanied the crew on their 4.5 million mile space
  journey last fall. The astronauts will share mission highlights with
  attendees, which will include local students and community partners.
  
  The STS-129 shuttle mission included three spacewalks and the
  installation of two platforms to the station's truss, or backbone.
  The platforms hold large spare parts to sustain operations after the
  shuttles are retired. The crew delivered approximately 30,000 pounds
  of replacement parts for systems that provide power to the station,
  keep it from overheating, and maintain a proper orientation in space.
  
  
  For information about the STS-129 mission, visit:
  
  
  http://www.nasa.gov/shuttle