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Assistance Goes Out To Trapped Miners In Chile

HOUSTON - A NASA team sent to Chile to aid trapped miners will hold a news conference about their work at the San Jose gold and copper mine near Copiapo at noon CDT, Tuesday, Sept. 7. The conference will be at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, and it will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

The participants also will answer questions from reporters at participating NASA centers. For journalists not able to attend at a NASA center, a limited number of phone lines are available by calling 281-483-5111 by 11:45 a.m. on Tuesday.

U.S. news media planning to attend the briefing in person must contact the Johnson newsroom at 281-483-5111 by 10 a.m. Tuesday. Reporters interested in a one-on-one interview must contact the Johnson newsroom by 11:30 a.m. Tuesday.

NASA responded to a request from the government of Chile, submitted through the U.S. Department of State, to provide technical advice that might assist the trapped miners. The NASA team of two medical doctors, a psychologist and an engineer arrived in Chile Aug. 31.

Dr. Michael Duncan, deputy chief medical officer in the Space Life Sciences Directorate at Johnson, led the team. The other members are physician James Polk and psychologist Albert Holland from Johnson; and Clint Cragg, principal engineer with the NASA Engineering and Safety Center located at NASA's Langley Research Center in Hampton, Va.

The team will participate in the news conference. Afterward, Duncan will be available for one-on-one interviews.

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For more information about NASA's assistance in Chile, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/news/chile_assistance.html

Source: NASA