A pair of news conferences on Wednesday, Jan. 25, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston will highlight the agency’s SpaceX Crew-6 mission to the International Space Station in February. The mission is NASA’s sixth crew rotation flight involving a U.S. commercial spacecraft carrying crew for a science expedition aboard the microgravity laboratory.
First up, a mission overview news conference at 12 p.m. EST, followed by a crew news conference at 2 p.m. Both will air live on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
The Crew-6 mission will carry NASA astronauts Stephen Bowen and Warren Hoburg as well as UAE (United Arab Emirates) astronaut Sultan Alneyadi, and Roscosmos cosmonaut Andrey Fedyaev. Crew members also will be available for individual interviews after 3:30 p.m.
The Falcon 9 rocket and the Dragon Endeavour spacecraft is scheduled to launch no earlier than Feb. 26 from Launch Complex 39A at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
This event will be the final media opportunity to speak to the Crew-6 astronauts before they travel to Kennedy for launch. Media wishing to participate in person or seeking a remote interview with the crew must request credentials from the Johnson newsroom at: 281-483-5111 or jsccommu@mail.nasa.gov.
U.S. media interested in attending must request in-person participation by noon Tuesday, Jan. 24. Media interested in participating by phone must contact the Johnson newsroom by 9:45 a.m. the day of the event. Those wishing to submit a question on social media may do so using #AskNASA.
Briefing participants include:
12 p.m. Mission Overview News Conference
- Kathryn Lueders, associate administrator, Space Operations Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters in Washington
- Steve Stich, manager, Commercial Crew Program, NASA Johnson
- Joel Montalbano, manager, International Space Station Program, NASA Johnson
- Sarah Walker, director, Dragon Mission Management, SpaceX
- Sergei Krikalev, executive director, Human Space Flight Programs, Roscosmos
- Salem AlMarri, Director General, Mohammaed Bin Rashid Space Centre, UAE
2 p.m. Crew News Conference
- Stephen Bowen, NASA astronaut, spacecraft commander
- Woody Hoburg, NASA astronaut, pilot
- Sultan Alneyadi, UAE astronaut, mission specialist
- Andrey Fedyaev, Roscosmos cosmonaut, mission specialist
3:30 p.m. Crew Individual Interview Opportunities
- Crew-6 members will be available for a limited number of interviews
This will be Bowen’s fourth trip into space. A veteran of three space shuttle missions: STS-126 in 2008, STS-132 in 2010, and STS-133 in 2011, Bowen has logged more than 40 days in space, including 47 hours, 18 minutes during seven spacewalks. As mission commander, he will be responsible for all phases of flight, from launch to re-entry. He will serve as an Expedition 69 flight engineer aboard the station.
Bowen was born in Cohasset, Massachusetts. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, and a master’s degree in ocean engineering from the Joint Program in Applied Ocean Science and Engineering offered by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Falmouth, Massachusetts. In July 2000, Bowen became the first submarine officer selected as an astronaut by NASA.
The mission will be Hoburg’s first flight since his selection as an astronaut in 2017. As pilot, he will be responsible for spacecraft systems and performance. Aboard the station, he will serve as an Expedition 69 flight engineer.
Hoburg is from Pittsburgh. He earned a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT and a doctorate in electrical engineering and computer science from the University of California, Berkeley. At the time of his selection as an astronaut, Hoburg was an assistant professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. Hoburg’s research focused on efficient methods for design of engineering systems. He also is a commercial pilot with instrument, single-engine, and multi-engine ratings. Follow @Astro_Woody on Twitter.
Alneyadi will be making his first trip to space, representing the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Once aboard the station, he will become a flight engineer for Expedition 69. Follow @Astro_AlNeyadi on Twitter.
Fedyaev will be making his first trip to space, and will also serve as a mission specialist, working to monitor the spacecraft during the dynamic launch and re-entry phases of flight. He will be a flight engineer for Expedition 69.
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