Recently returned to Earth space station astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Koicha Wakata will tour NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, at 10 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Reporters are welcome to join the tour and meet the astronauts.
While at Goddard, Mastracchio and Wakata will see the new Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) control room and other satellite control centers. The GPM Core Observatory was launched into orbit while the two astronauts were aboard the space station. Mastracchio, Wakata and the media will learn about GPM’s collection of rain, snowfall and other types of precipitation data. As of today, Sept. 4, 2014, those data were available to the general public.
News media representatives will have an opportunity to follow the astronauts as they tour Goddard. There will also be a brief Q-and-A opportunity with the astronauts. The tour and media interview opportunity is expected to begin at 10 a.m. and conclude no later than 11:30 a.m.
The visit is part of several days the two men will be spending in the Washington, D.C., area for events and activities to highlight their participation as Expedition 38/39 crewmembers during 188 days in orbit.
U.S. reporters and green card-holding foreign media representatives desiring to participate will need to contact Ed Campion in Goddard’s Office of Communications via e-mail at edward.s.campion@nasa.gov or by phone at 301-286-0697 by close of business on Tuesday, Sept. 16. Please Note: Non-green card holding foreign media representatives need to supply passport/visa information by 4 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 8, to allow time for processing and approval for access to the Goddard facility.
