NASA TO PREVIEW NEXT SPACE STATION EXPEDITION

The work of the next International Space Station residents will be previewed in a briefing broadcast on NASA Television at 1 p.m. CDT Thursday, Sept. 25, from NASA's Johnson Space Center. Reporters at participating NASA centers may ask questions.

Expedition 18 Commander Mike Fincke, Flight Engineer and Soyuz Commander Yuri Lonchakov and U.S. spaceflight participant Richard Garriott are scheduled to launch in a Soyuz spacecraft Oct. 12 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. They will arrive at the station Oct. 14. Garriott will return home with the two Russian members of the Expedition 17 crew on Oct. 24. Fincke and Lonchakov will join NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who has been on board the orbiting complex since June.

The briefers who will preview Expedition 18 are:

-- Michael Suffredini, International Space Station Program manager
-- Susan Brand, Expedition 18 increment manager
-- Ron Spencer, Expedition 18 lead flight director
-- Julie Robinson, International Space Station Program scientist

For NASA TV downlink information, schedules and links to streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about the International Space Station and its crews, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station