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| NASA Headquarters in Washington DC [FILE PHOTO] |
Washington: NASA invites its social media followers to a special event
with astronaut Joe Acaba from 9 -11:30 a.m. EST Tuesday, Dec. 4. The event will
take place in the James E. Webb Memorial Auditorium at NASA Headquarters, 300 E
St. SW in Washington.
Acaba launched to the
International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft May 15. He spent 123
days aboard the orbiting laboratory as a flight engineer of the Expedition 31
and 32 crews. He returned to Earth Sept. 17 after four months off the planet.
NASA Socials are
in-person meetings with people who engage with the agency through Twitter,
Facebook, Google+ and other social networks. This NASA Social is an opportunity
to meet and speak with Acaba, the people behind NASA's social media accounts
and other space-exploration-minded participants.
Registration for the
event is open to NASA social media followers and their guests from noon EDT
Tuesday, Oct. 30, until 5 p.m. EST Monday, Nov. 5. NASA will select 150
participants by lottery from those who register online. Additional applicants
will be placed on a waiting list.
Aboard the space station,
Acaba supported the arrival of the first commercial resupply spacecraft,
SpaceX's Dragon; an undocking, re-docking and final undocking demonstration of
the Russian ISS Progress 47 cargo spacecraft; the first single-day
launch-to-docking demonstration of a Progress; the arrival and departure of the
third Japanese cargo ship; and served as intra-vehicular crew member for two
U.S.-based spacewalks, helping to restore a critical power unit and exchange a
faulty camera on the station's robotic arm.
Acaba participated in
numerous scientific research experiments and performed regular maintenance and
operational tasks aboard the orbiting complex. He also frequently tweeted on
his Twitter account, @AstroAcaba, and participated in an #askStation TweetChat.
Acaba also flew
aboard space shuttle Discovery in March 2009 during a space station assembly
mission, during which he spent almost 13 hours performing two spacewalks.