NASA to Brief Press for SpaceX Mission to International Space Station

In a statement, NASA indicated that the space agency will hold a press briefing on Monday, April 16 at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The media will be briefed on a preview of the the upcoming SpaceX demonstration mission to the International Space Station. The mission to the ISS is currently scheduled for launch April 30.

For those in the media, or others interested in viewing the briefing but unable to attend in person, the mission briefing will also be broadcast live on NASA Television, which is also available for streaming via the internet and the NASA web site.

NASA managers, along with space station partners and SpaceX officials are scheduled to perform a Flight Readiness Review (FRR) in the morning just prior to the start of the media briefing. The FRR should be complete by the early part of the afternoon.

Among those taking part in the press briefing will be NASA associate administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier, ISS program manager Michael Suffredini, NASA flight director Holly Ridings, Commercial Orbital Transportation Services program manager Alan Lindenmoyer, and the CEO and Chief Designer for SpaceX Elon Musk.

Any in the media wishing to ask questions are directed to contact the Johnson Space Center newsroom 15 minutes prior to the briefing at 281-483-5111. The deadline for reporters to request credentials to attend in person is Monday, April 9, for international residents and Friday, April 13, for U.S. citizens.

The purpose of the initial demonstration space flight is for the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft to test and prove its systems before actually completing a rendezvous with the space station. To prove itself, the Dragon spacecraft will fly-under of the station at a distance of 1.5 miles (2.5 kilometers) in order to validate the operation of sensors and flight systems necessary for a safe rendezvous.

If all goes as planned with the tests during the demonstration flight, the Dragon will then rendezvous with the ISS and allow the ISS crew to grab the spacecraft with the station’s robotic arm. At the end of the mission, the Dragon spacecraft will return to Earth.