HOUSTON – Media opportunities are available in Raleigh, Durham and Fayetteville, N.C., as NASA shares the accomplishments, promise and opportunities for research aboard the International Space Station in North Carolina.
The agency will showcase its newest station exhibit, “Destination: Station,” a multimedia experience that’s free with admission at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences in Raleigh. The exhibit will be open to the public from April 28 through May 19.
There will be a live television event with astronauts aboard the International Space Station on April 25 at Neal Middle School in Durham. During the activities, which begin at 10 a.m. EDT, students will ask Expedition 30 Commander Dan Burbank and Flight Engineer Don Pettit about the progress of their mission. In addition, NASA astronaut Nancy Currie will deliver a presentation on living in space. Currie currently serves as principal engineer for the NASA Engineering and Safety Center and will be available for interviews before the event. Reporters are asked to check in at 9:30 a.m. to pick up media packets and conduct interviews. To participate, contact Jeff Nash at 919-560-2602.
A Twitter Town Hall will be held from 5-7 p.m. April 26 at North Carolina State University. NASA astronaut Bill McArthur will discuss his experience as Expedition 12 commander and International Space Station science officer from September 2005 through April 2006. Currie, who teaches at NC State, will attend as well.
At the Twitter Town Hall, NASA fans and followers can ask questions and receive answers from McArthur and Currie. Audiences may learn about the wonders of the space station and how it improves life on Earth. Use the hash tag #DS_RTP to tweet questions in advance. For information, visit: www.engr.ncsu.edu under “Events.”
McArthur and NASA Associate International Space Station Program Scientist Tara Ruttley will discuss scientific experiments that have been conducted aboard the station and how results of those investigations are affecting life on Earth during a panel discussion from 1-4:30 p.m. April 27 at the Archie K. Davis Conference Center/Research Triangle Park Headquarters (12 Davis Drive, RTP, N.C.). To participate, contact Tina Valdecanas at 919-549-8181.
The Durham Bulls host the Indianapolis Indians on April 27, and McArthur will be on hand to throw out the first pitch. The game begins at 7:05 p.m.
McArthur will discuss his time and research aboard the space station April 28 at Duke University. The event will begin at 2 p.m. in Love Auditorium in the Levine Science Research Center on West Campus. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Lindsey Naylor at 919-668-1967.
McArthur will visit soldiers and talk to students during a stop at Fort Bragg in Fayetteville on April 30. This event will be open to the media and those at Fort Bragg, but not to the general public. The event begins at 8:30 a.m.
McArthur will deliver a presentation to students at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics on April 30. The event begins at 4:30 p.m. For more information, contact Aaron Plourde at 919-416-2872.
For more about Destination: Station, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/destinationstation
For more about the International Space Station, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/station
For biographies of the astronauts, visit:
http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/
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text-only version of this release
William Jeffs / Jennifer Knotts
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111