Two human spaceflight events will air simultaneously on separate NASA Television digital channels Thursday, Feb. 22.
At 5 a.m. EST, two crew members of the International Space Station will begin the fourth spacewalk in the last three weeks. During the six-hour spacewalk, Expedition 14 Commander Michael Lopez Alegria and Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin will work to free a stuck antenna on the Progress 23 supply spacecraft. Coverage of the spacewalk on NASA TV's public, education and media channels begins at 4 a.m.
The media Channel will break away temporarily from the spacewalk coverage to air a question and answer session between reporters and the STS-117 crew at NASA's Kennedy Space Center, Fla., at 7:40 a.m. The crew will be in Florida to participate in the launch countdown dress rehearsal, known as the Terminal Countdown Demonstration Test. The shuttle crew includes Commander Rick Sturckow, Pilot Lee Archambault and Mission Specialists Patrick Forrester, Steven Swanson, John "Danny" Olivas and Jim Reilly.
Coverage of the spacewalk will continue uninterrupted on the public channel and will resume on the media channel immediately following the shuttle crew event.
