WHAT: STS-132 crew of Space Shuttle Atlantis/Return of Nobel Prize flown on mission
WHEN: Tuesday, July 27, 10:30 a.m.: Crew presentation
WHERE: Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W.
WHO:
John Mather, Nobel Prize recipient
Margaret Weitekamp, curator, Space History Division
NASA astronauts and STS-132 crew Commander Ken Ham, Pilot Tony Antonelli, and Mission Specialists Garrett Reisman,Michael Good, Piers Sellers and Steve Bowen
On Tuesday, July 27, the National Air and Space Museum will host an educational presentation by STS-132 crew about their recent mission to the International Space Station. The crew will take questions from museum visitors and the media.
Mission Specialist Piers Sellers will begin the program by officially returning a replica of the Nobel Prize won by John Mather in 2006 for his work using the Cosmic Background Explorer Satellite with George Smoot. The medal, which is in the museum’s collection, flew onboard the Space Shuttle Atlantis for its 11-day mission in May 2010. Museum space history curator Margaret Weitekamp will explain Mather’s Nobel Prize and its importance to the Smithsonian. Mather and his team also received the museum’s Trophy Award in 1991.
The STS-132 crew flew aboard the Atlantis in May 2010 for its final planned mission to deliver an Integrated Cargo Carrier and a Russian-built Mini Research Module to the International Space Station. STS-132 was the 32nd mission for Atlantis and the 34th mission to the International Space Station.
Interested media must RSVP to larai@si.edu or mullenb@si.edu.