NASA Schedules News Conference About Next Space Shuttle Launch

Michael Curie

Headquarters,Washington

Candrea Thomas

Kennedy Space Center, Fla.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- NASA managers will hold a news conference on Friday, Feb. 18, at the agency's Kennedy Space Center in Florida to discuss the status of the next space shuttle launch. The briefing will begin after the Flight Readiness Review, or FRR, a meeting to assess preparations for shuttle Discovery's STS-133 mission to the International Space Station.

Live status updates, including the start time for the news conference, will be provided during the meeting via the NASA News Twitter feed. To access the feed, go to the nasa.gov homepage or visit http://www.twitter.com/nasa.

NASA expects to announce an official launch date at the conclusion of the review. Discovery and six NASA astronauts are targeted to lift off at 4:50 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 24.

The briefing participants are:

-- Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for Space Operations

-- Mike Moses, Space Shuttle Program launch integration manager

-- Mike Leinbach, shuttle launch director

NASA Television and the agency's website will broadcast the briefing live. Reporters may ask questions from participating NASA locations, and should contact their preferred NASA center to confirm participation. For NASA TV streaming video, downlink and scheduling information, visit http://www.nasa.gov/ntv.