For Release: November 30, 1995
Catherine Watson
(804) 864-6122
Release No. 95-111
NOTE TO EDITORS/NEWS DIRECTORS
Astronaut Thagard to Visit Hampton Roads, Discuss 115 Days Aboard
Mir
QUICK LOOK:
Astronaut Norm
Thagard will visit Hampton Roads Dec. 5 to
discuss his 115 days aboard the Russian space station Mir.
Thagard will speak to children at the Virginia Air and Space
Center (VASC)
from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. and meet with students at Phoebus
High School at 3:30 p.m. The Phoebus students are building a
one-story high model rocket that will be launched from Wallops
Island in mid-December. Thagard also will be available for
interviews at 1:15 p.m. at the NASA Langley H.J.E. Reid
Conference Center. In addition, Thagard will present a free
lecture to the public on his Mir mission at 7:30 p.m. at the
VASC.
Astronaut Norman Thagard, America's longest-flying space
traveler, will visit Hampton Roads Dec. 5 to talk about his 115
days aboard the Russian space station Mir. Thagard will share his
life in space with children at the Virginia Air and Space Center
from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. At 2 p.m., Thagard will speak to NASA
Langley employees at the H.J.E. Reid Conference Center, and will be
available for media interviews at 1:15 p.m.
At 3:30 p.m., Thagard will visit students at Phoebus High
School, Hampton, who are building a one-story high model rocket.
The students plan to launch the rocket from NASA's Wallops Island
Flight Facility in mid-December. The Phoebus rocket will carry two
instruments that will make measurements of the atmosphere as the
rocket parachutes to earth after ascending to 2,000 feet.
Thagard will speak extensively throughout the day about life
aboard the Mir and give a first-hand account of what it's like to
readapt to gravity after prolonged periods in space. Thagard also
will discuss what was learned about the mental and physical
well-being of culturally diverse crews such as those who will live
together on the future international space station.
Thagard has bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering
science and is a doctor of medicine. He was selected as an
astronaut in January 1978 and is a veteran of five space flights,
logging a U.S. record of 140 days in space.
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