Shuttle Update
Atlantis rolled over to the Vehicle Assembly Building yesterday to begin stacking with the solid rocket boosters and external tank.  Atlantis is scheduled to fly on mission STS-110, an assembly flight to the International Space Station, on April 4.  It will be carrying the S0 truss, the center section of the truss assembly, and the Mobile Transporter, a link between the Integrated Truss structure and Mobile Remote Servicer as well as truss translation capability for the Mobile Servicing System. 

See FIRST robots in action
 Qualifying matches of the FIRST robotic teams begin tomorrow and elimination and final matches will be on Saturday, March 9, all held in Parking Lot #4 of the Visitor Complex, and free to the public.  After opening ceremonies on Friday and Saturday at 9 a.m., play goes until 4 p.m. and 3 p.m. respectively.  Saturday’s award ceremonies begin at 3 p.m.   Among the 47 teams competing at KSC, four are from Brevard, including Roccobot and CombBat.

Reminder
Volunteers are still needed for the beach clean up March 14.  Employees who have not yet registered should do so before close of business March 11.   Volunteers will meet at the tour bus stop just east of LC-39 Pad A, at the intersection with the Beach Road, at 12:30 p.m. on March 14.  Bus transportation will be provided between this staging site and the beach.  The area of cleanup is between Canaveral National Seashore and Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.  Each segment averages about a half-mile and will take about an hour and a half to walk.  Volunteers should bring gloves, a hat and sun screen; and to avoid scratches, scrapes and trips/falls, should wear long pants and sturdy ankle-high shoes.  If you would like to volunteer, call the Fish and Wildlife Service at 861-0667 to sign up or to obtain additional information.

TDRS-I Briefing and Launch 
NASA TV will carry a pre-launch press briefing 1 p.m. Thursday on the TDRS-I launch scheduled March 8.  The launch will also be carried live on NASA TV beginning at 4 p.m. and continuing through L+30.  The launch window is 5:39 – 6:19 p.m. EST.

NASA TV To Cover The Gravity Recovery And Climate Experiment (GRACE) Briefing
A briefing in preparation for the launch of the GRACE mission will be conducted on Thursday, March 7, at 2 p.m. at NASA Headquarters.  The briefing will be carried live on NASA TV.  The twin GRACE satellites are scheduled to be launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in Russia on March 16.    GRACE is a joint U.S./German mission to measure minute variations in Earth’s surface mass that will cause corresponding variations in gravitational pull and affect the orbital motion of the twin satellites.  Monthly maps of Earth’s gravity field will be constructed from these measurements.

Did You Know?
Frank Culbertson, Expedition 3 commander, will be at KSC to talk with employees about his mission aboard the International Space Station.  His presentation will be held in the KSC Training Auditorium from 9 - 10 a.m. on March 28.  Employees are encouraged to attend. H