Martin Still, TESS program scientist at NASA Headquarters

Tom Barclay, TESS scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center

Jenn Burt, Torres postdoctoral fellow at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

Zach Berta-Thompson, assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder

Natalia Guerrero, TESS researcher at MIT

Robert Lockwood, TESS spacecraft program manager with Orbital ATK

Hans Koenigsmann, vice president of Build and Flight Reliability at SpaceX

Jessie Christiansen, staff scientist with the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute at Caltech

Elisa Quintana, TESS scientist at Goddard

Sandra Connelly, deputy associate administrator of programs for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate

Omar Baez, launch director for NASA’s Launch Services Program

Jeff Volosin, TESS project manager at Goddard

Mike McAleenan, weather officer with the U.S. Air Force 45th Weather Squadron

Robert Lockwood

Hans Koenigsmann

Paul Hertz, Astrophysics division director at NASA Headquarters

George Ricker, TESS principal investigator at MIT

Padi Boyd, TESS Guest Investigator Program lead at Goddard

Stephen Rinehart, TESS project scientist at Goddard

Diana Dragomir, NASA Hubble postdoctoral fellow at MIT

On a mission to detect planets outside of our solar system, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is scheduled to launch no earlier than 6:32 p.m. EDT Monday, April 16. Prelaunch mission coverage will begin on NASA Television and the agency’s website Sunday, April 15, with three live briefings.TESS is NASA’s next step in the search for planets outside of our solar system, known as exoplanets, including those that could support life. The mission is expected to catalog thousands of planet candidates and vastly increase the current number of known exoplanets. TESS will find the most promising exoplanets orbiting relatively nearby stars, giving future researchers a rich set of new targets for more comprehensive follow-up studies, including the potential to assess their capacity to harbor life.NASA TV coverage is as follows:11 a.m. – NASA Social Mission Overview1 p.m. – Prelaunch news conference3 p.m. – Science news conference10 a.m. – NASA EDGE: TESSThis half-hour live show will discuss the TESS spacecraft, the science of searching for planets outside our solar system, and the launch from Cape Canaveral.6 p.m. – Launch coverage begins6:32 p.m. – LaunchTESS will launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The deadline for media accreditation for this launch has passed. For information about media accreditation, contact ksc-media-accreditat@mail.nasa.gov For the latest schedule of prelaunch briefings, events and NASA TV coverage, visit:Learn more about TESS at: