What & Who: Astronaut Joe Acaba, who lived and worked nearly four months as a flight engineer aboard the International Space Station, will visit NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala., Nov. 7. Acaba will share highlights from his 123-day mission in space — from May 15 through Sept. 17, 2012 — as part of the Expedition 31 and 32 crews.
During his stay on the station, Acaba supported the arrival of the first commercial resupply spacecraft — SpaceX’s Dragon; docking demonstrations of the Russian International Space Station Progress 47 cargo ship; the first single-day launch-to-docking demonstration of Progress 48; and the arrival and departure of the third Japanese cargo ship, HTV3. Acaba also participated in numerous scientific research investigations and performed regular maintenance and operational tasks aboard the orbiting complex.
When & Where: Wednesday, Nov. 7.
10:35-10:55 a.m. CST — Astronaut Joe Acaba will be available for a brief question-and-answer session with news media in Building 4663, in the Payload Operations Center viewing room.
10:55-11:30 a.m. – Acaba will hang his mission plaque in a ceremony in the Payload Operations Center
To attend: News media interested in covering the event should contact the Marshall Public & Employee Communications Office at 256-544-0034 no later than 4 p.m., Tuesday, Nov. 6. Media must report to the Redstone Arsenal Joint Visitor Control Center at Gate 9, Interstate 565 interchange at Rideout Road/Research Park Boulevard. Vehicles are subject to a security search at the gate. News media will need two photo identifications and proof of car insurance.
Acaba’s biography is available at: http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/acaba-jm.html
Acaba’s Twitter account is: http://twitter.com/AstroAcaba
For more information on the space station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/station
For other supporting materials — such as photographs, fact sheets, video and audio files and more — please visit the NASA Marshall Center Newsroom website at: www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/news
