Longueuil, Quebec, August 26, 2009 – Media representatives are invited to the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) for astronaut Julie Payette's first media availability since her successful mission and visit to the International Space Station.
From July 15 to 31, 2009, Julie Payette served as the flight engineer on the crew of STS-127 aboard Space Shuttle Endeavour on the 29th Shuttle mission to the International Space Station. During this mission, the crew completed the construction of the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module, installed scientific experiments on its Exposed Facility and delivered critical spare parts and replacement batteries to the orbital complex. Robotics technology was used almost every day on this assembly mission and Ms. Payette operated all three robotic arms - the Shuttle's Canadarm, the Station's Canadarm2, and a special-purpose Japanese arm on Kibo. While the Shuttle was docked to the ISS, the mission featured a record 13 astronauts from 5 different nationalities together on board a single joint spacecraft. It also highlighted the first time two Canadians were in space at the same time.
The 16-day mission included five spacewalks and was accomplished in 248 orbits of the Earth, traveling 6,547,853 kilometres in 15 days, 16 hours, 44 minutes and 58 seconds.
Journalists who cannot be on site at CSA will be able to watch the event live on our Web site at www.asc-csa.gc.ca .
For details on the mission, visit the Canadian Space Agency's website at:
www.asc-csa.gc.ca
Video, animations and pictures are available at this address:
ftp://ftp.asc-csa.gc.ca/users/sts127/pub/
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For more information:
Media Relations
Canadian Space Agency
(450) 926-4370
www.asc-csa.gc.ca
