ASTRONAUT LEROY CHIAO TO VISIT MICHOUD
NEW ORLEANS, LA, 05-JUL-05 -- Fresh from a six-month stay aboard the International Space Station, astronaut Leroy Chiao will visit the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility on Wednesday, July 6 to talk with employees about Return to Flight and to present awards.
Chiao’s visit comes one week before the Space Shuttle is scheduled to return to flight on a mission to the space station.
The astronaut who has flown four times in space served as Commander and NASA Science Officer of the two-man Expedition 10 crew who lived on the space station from October 2004 to April of this year. A mission specialist, Chiao has participated in several spacewalks while working on the space station. A private pilot, Chiao speaks Mandarin Chinese and Russian and holds a Ph.D. in chemical engineering.
He will be available to talk to the media at 1 p.m. July 6. Chiao’s biography can be found at http://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/chiao.html
Reporters and photographers who wish to talk with the astronaut are invited to come to the lobby of Building 101 at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility.
Lockheed Martin Space Systems -- Michoud Operations designs and builds the Space Shuttle External Tank at the NASA Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans. The company also assembles large aluminum and composite structures for aerospace and other applications.
