ASTRONAUT ANDY THOMAS TO DISCUSS MIR MISSION



July 2, 1998



Jennifer McCarter
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone: 202/358-1639)



Eileen M. Hawley
Johnson Space Center, Houston, TX
(Phone: 281/483-5111)

<h4>Release: N98-44</h4> <h3>Astronaut Andy Thomas to Discuss Mir 
Mission</h3> 

Astronaut Andy Thomas, the final American to live on board the Russian 
Mir space station, will discuss his journey during a news conference 
Wednesday, July 8, beginning at 8 a.m. CDT.



Frank Culbertson, manager of the Phase 1 Shuttle/Mir program, also 
will participate in the briefing to discuss Thomas' tenure on Mir and 
review the program, which saw seven Americans live and work on board 
the Russian space station.



The press conference will originate from NASA's Johnson Space Center, 
Houston, TX, and will be broadcast on NASA Television, providing 
multi-center question and answer capability for reporters at 
participating NASA centers.



During his 130 days on board Mir, Thomas traveled more than 56 million 
miles. He launched as a member of the STS-89 crew on Jan. 22, 1998, 
becoming a Mir crew member on Jan. 24. He returned on board Discovery 
as a member of the STS-91 crew on June 12. When Thomas returned to 
Earth, he concluded 802 consecutive days of an American presence on 
board Mir, beginning with astronaut Shannon Lucid's arrival March 24, 
1996.



The press conference can be seen on NASA Television, which is carried 
on GE-2, Transponder 9C, at 85 degrees West longitude, vertical 
polarization, frequency 3880 Mhz, audio 6.8 Mhz.

	
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