NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force Col. Catherine Cady Coleman will participate in several events at the Exploration Works Museum in Helena, Mont., June 11-12. The events, located at 995 Carousel Way, are open to the media.

Coleman will begin her visit on June 11, serving as the keynote speaker for the Women and Scientists Luncheon at 11:30 a.m. MDT. The event will host women in engineering and science fields as well as middle and high school girls interested in pursuing careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields.

At 5 p.m., the museum will host the grand opening of the NASA exhibit ,Women in Aerospace. 0/00 Following the opening, Coleman will discuss ,Living on the ISS 0/00 during the third annual Distinguished Space Speaker,s series. The 7 p.m. presentation is free of charge and open to the public. It will be followed by a brief question-and-answer period.

The spaceflight veteran will end her visit on June 12 participating in hands-on engineering activities with children. Activities begin at 10 a.m.

Coleman is a veteran of three spaceflights. She has logged more than 4,330 hours in space. For her most recent mission, Expeditions 26 and 27 to the International Space Station, Coleman launched aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft and spent 159 days in space performing science experiments and space station maintenance operations.

For more information about this appearance, contact Brenda Cabaniss, Astronaut Appearances Office, at 281-244-8860 or Joey Shapiro Key, Montana Space Grant Consortium, at 406-994-1753.

For more information about Coleman, visit:

http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/coleman.html