WASHINGTON, April 12, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — NASA astronaut Andrew Morgan, along with crewmates Luca Parmitano of ESA (European Space Agency) and Alexander Skvortsov of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, will discuss their upcoming mission to the International Space Station in a news conference at 2 p.m. EDT, Friday, April 19, at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The news conference will broadcast live on NASA Television and on the agency’s website, and the crew will be available for in person or remote media interviews afterward.

U.S. reporters wishing to participate in person or reserve an interview opportunity must contact Johnson’s newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 5 p.m. Wednesday, April 17.

Reporters who wish to participate in the news conference by telephone must call Johnson’s newsroom no later than 1:45 p.m. April 19. Those following the briefing on social media may ask questions using the hashtag #askNASA.

The crew is scheduled to launch to the space station aboard the Soyuz MS-13 spacecraft from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at approximately 12:25 pm EDT (9:25 pm Baikonur time) July 20, the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. They will join NASA astronauts Christina Koch and Nick Hague and station commander Alexey Ovchinin of Roscosmos for Expedition 60, and stay behind for Expedition 61 when the three crew members currently aboard the station return to Earth, leaving Parmitano as space station commander.

This will be Morgan’s first spaceflight, Parmitano’s second and Skvortsov’s third.

NASA selected Morgan, a medical doctor and colonel in the U.S. Army, as an astronaut in 2013. Born in Morgantown, West Virginia, he grew up in a military family and attended school across the United States and in Great Britain, but considers New Castle, Pennsylvania, to be his hometown.

Morgan earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering at the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York, and a doctorate of medicine from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Maryland. Prior to his selection by NASA, Morgan deployed with special forces units in support of combat operations overseas.

Over the course of their mission to the space station, Morgan and his crewmates will take part in about 250 research investigations and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth to advance scientific knowledge of Earth, space, physical, and biological sciences. Science conducted on the space station continues to yield benefits for humanity and will enable future long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space, including the Moon and Mars.

Follow Morgan on social media at:

https://twitter.com/AstroDrewMorgan

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SOURCE NASA