HDNet To Feature Live Exclusive High Definition Coverage Of The Launch Of Space Shuttle Endeavour

Live Exclusive High Definition Coverage of STS-118 to Begin at 6:00 p.m. ET Tuesday, August 7

August 3, 2007

HDNet will once again provide viewers with live exclusive coverage of the planned liftoff of Space Shuttle Endeavour, set for 7:02 p.m. ET on Tuesday, August 7. The network's coverage will begin at 6:00 p.m. ET. HDNet will resume its regular programming schedule with DAN RATHER REPORTS at 8:00 p.m. ET and HDNET WORLD REPORT at 9:00 p.m. ET. STS-118 will be the 22nd U.S. mission to the International Space Station. It will continue space station construction by delivering a third starboard truss segment. Endeavour will carry a seven-member crew, including mission specialist Barbara Morgan. Morgan, a teacher, was originally chosen as the backup to Christa McAuliffe for the NASA Teacher in Space Program in 1985. After the Challenger accident, Morgan assumed duties as the Teacher in Space Designee, which included public speaking, educational consulting and curriculum design. She was selected by NASA as a mission specialist in January of 1998 and will finally make her first trip into space aboard Endeavour on August 7. Over the course of the month of August, HDNet will also feature exclusive coverage of three other unmanned NASA rocket launches including the Delta 2 Phoenix rocket (which will be traveling to Mars), the Delta 4 DSP rocket and the Atlas 5 Wideband Satellite Gapfiller rocket. HDNet will also feature exclusive high definition coverage of the landing of Endeavour, currently scheduled for Monday, August 20. "August is a big month for NASA coverage on HDNet," said Mark Cuban, president and co-founder of HDNet. "From the three unmanned missions to the launch and landing of Endeavour, our viewers won't miss a moment of these historic space missions." HDNet World Report Correspondent Greg Dobbs and former shuttle astronaut Charles "Sam" Gemar will again anchor live coverage from the launch site at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. HDNet's exclusive HD partnership with NASA allows the network exceptional access to the shuttle and its astronauts, including coverage of the crew's pre-launch preparations such as the astronauts getting into their vacuum suits, moving into the orbiter and making their final preparations before liftoff.

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