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NEW ORLEANS-MADE EXTERNAL TANK TO PROPEL 100TH SPACE SHUTTLE TO HISTORY

NEW ORLEANS, LA., October 11th, 2000 -- The countdown has started again for STS-92, the 100th Space Shuttle mission. The shuttle is scheduled to blast off at 6:17 p.m. Central Time tonight (Wednesday, October 11) from Kennedy Space Center and head for the International Space Station.

Reporters and photographers who wish to cover the 100th shuttle launch can view the liftoff with Lockheed Martin employees at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. To cover the event, please contact Gordon Dyer at 257-2102 or at pager 538-7737 by 4 p.m.

The Super Lightweight Tank built at Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company – Michoud Operations in New Orleans will power the 100th shuttle for 8? minutes until it reaches orbit at a speed of 17,500 mph.

Seven astronauts will be on board the orbiter Discovery for the 11-day trip. The crew’s mission: prepare the International Space Station for the first resident 3-man crew, scheduled to launch October 30 from Russia.

The first Space Shuttle mission – STS-1 – flew almost 20 years ago on April 12, 1981.

Opportunities to view the shuttle in orbit can be found on the Web at: http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/realdata/index.html

NASA Television (NTV) will be available on GE-2, Transponder 9C at 85 degrees west longitude, vertical polarization, with a frequency of 3880 Mhz, and audio of 6.8 Mhz. The launch will also be broadcast “live” tonight on WLAE-TV, Channel 32, beginning at 6:08 p.m.

Gordon Dyer, (504) 257-2102 or gordon.dyer@maf.nasa.gov