NASA Sets Media Credentials Deadlines for Next Shuttle Flight

WASHINGTON -- NASA has set media accreditation deadlines for space shuttle Endeavour's STS-126 mission, targeted to launch Nov. 16. The 15-day flight will deliver equipment and supplies to the International Space Station in preparation for expansion from a three to six person resident crew aboard the complex. The mission also will include four spacewalks to service the station Solar Alpha Rotary Joints, and repair the starboard joint, which has been in limited use since September 2007.

All U.S. and international media must apply for credentials to attend the liftoff from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida or cover the mission from other NASA centers. To be accredited, media must work for legitimate, verifiable news-gathering organizations. Reporters may need to submit requests for credentials at multiple NASA facilities.

Additional time may be required to process accreditation requests by journalists from certain designated countries. Designated countries include those with which the United States has no diplomatic relations, on the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, are under U.S. sanction or embargo, or which raise proliferation concerns. Please contact the accrediting NASA center for details. Journalists should confirm they have been accredited before they travel.

No substitutions of credentials are allowed at any NASA facility. If the STS-126 launch is delayed, the deadline for domestic media may be extended on a day-by-day basis.