NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

GREENBELT, Md. - News representatives in the Washington, D.C., and Baltimore area are invited to attend a media day event on July 1 to learn about NASA's next space shuttle flight -- an ambitious mission to the orbiting Hubble Space Telescope.

NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, located just outside Washington, D.C., has critical responsibilities in the planning, mission preparations and in-flight management of HST servicing missions. Reporters attending the all-day media event at Goddard will have unique opportunities to interact with Hubble managers and HST scientists as well as observe members of the Hubble mission astronaut crew who will be training at Goddard that week. Attendees will see examples of high definition b-roll and animation footage available to help tell the STS-125 mission story. Information will be provided on how reporters at Goddard during the flight will have same access and insight into the mission as reporters at Kennedy Space Center in Florida and Johnson Space Center in Houston.

Reporters wishing to attend the media event are asked to contact either GSFC PAO Susan Hendrix at (301) 286-7745 or Ed Campion at (301) 286-0697 no later than June 26 to confirm plans to attend.

The STS-125 mission is targeted for launch on Oct. 8, 2008. The mission will involve astronauts performing five consecutive space walks to conduct activities that will extend Hubble's operational life, restore science operations to two non-functioning telescope science instruments and install two new science instruments. The combination of all the activities will allow Hubble to reach the apex of its observation capabilities and ready to conduct science operations for many years to come.

Related Link:

NASA's Hubble web site Susan Hendrix/Ed Campion
Goddard Space Flight Center