STS-131 mission for April 5 launch

Nasa will preview the next space shuttle mission during a series of news briefings on March 9 at Nasa's Johnson Space Centre in Houston.

Nasa television and the agency's website will broadcast the briefings live. Reporters will be able to ask questions from participating Nasa locations.

The STS-131 mission, targeted for launch April 5, will be shuttle Discovery's next-to-last flight and deliver critical spare parts and cargo to the International Space Station. A multipurpose logistics module will be carried inside the shuttle's payload bay and temporarily attached to the station during the mission.

The cargo carrier will be brought back with the shuttle. Following STS-131, only three more shuttle flights are scheduled.

Alan Poindexter will serve as the mission commander and James Dutton as the pilot. They will be joined by Mission Specialists Rick Mastracchio, Dorothy Metcalf-Lindenburger, Clayton Anderson, Stephanie Wilson and Naoko Yamazaki of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Dutton, Metcalf-Lindenburger and Yamazaki will be making their first trips into space. Metcalf-Lindenburger is a member of the cadre of former educators trained as mission specialists and the last of that group scheduled to fly on the shuttle.