WASHINGTON -- News media are invited to attend the Sept. 12 signing of a memorandum of understanding between NASA and the National Institutes of Health for cooperation in space-related health research. The event will be held in room S-115 of the U.S. Capitol from 11 a.m. to noon EDT.

NASA Administrator Michael Griffin and NIH Director Elias A. Zerhouni will be available to answer questions from the media following the signing.

Additional participants at the signing will include:

- U.S. Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas

- Carl Walz, Advanced Capabilities Division director, Exploration Systems, NASA Headquarters, Washington

- Dr. Joshua Zimmerberg, chief, Laboratory of Cellular and Molecular Biophysics, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH

NASA sent Congress a plan in May describing how the U.S. segment of the International Space Station can be used as a national laboratory. The report outlines possible partnerships with other government agencies and private companies to conduct research aboard the station. The signing will mark the first such agreement with NASA and another agency.

For more information on the national lab, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/science/nlab