NASA will hold a news conference starting at noon EDT tomorrow, Thursday, Aug. 18, in the agency's Webb Auditorium, 300 E Street SW, Washington. Langley Research Center will open its newsroom to accommodate local reporters who wish to participate.

Bill Gerstenmaier, NASA's associate administrator for Space Operations, will update the media about plans for the next Space Shuttle mission (STS-121). The press conference will be live on NASA TV, and reporters at participating agency locations may also ask questions.

Media who wish to participate should call Keith Henry at 864-6124 or 344-7211 (mobile) by 11 a. m. to make arrangements for entry on to the Center.

The press conference will last approximately one hour. This press conference replaces the media teleconference scheduled for Monday, August 22.

NASA TV is carried on an MPEG-2 digital signal accessed via satellite AMC-6, at 72 degrees west longitude, transponder 17C, 4040 MHz, vertical polarization. It's available in Alaska and Hawaii on AMC-7, at 137 degrees west longitude, transponder 18C, at 4060 MHz, horizontal polarization. A Digital Video Broadcast compliant Integrated Receiver Decoder is required for reception.

The news conference will be available live on the Internet at:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

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