NASA Astronauts Contact White House and NASA Leaders
Following their successful journey to the International Space Station, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams are scheduled to have two conversations from space on Monday, June 10, as part of their groundbreaking mission aboard Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft.
The astronauts, who are part of NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test, will first speak at 1 p.m. EDT with top officials including NASA Administrator Bill Nelson, Deputy Administrator Pam Melroy, Associate Administrator Jim Free, and Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche.
The conversation will be broadcast live on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website. Viewers can also learn how to watch NASA TV through various platforms, including social media.
At 2:40 p.m., Wilmore and Williams will take part in a Q&A session moderated by Chirag Parikh, deputy assistant to President Joe Biden and executive secretary for the White House’s National Space Council.
The session will also be streamed live on NASA+, NASA Television, and the agency’s website.
The astronauts embarked on their mission at 10:52 a.m. on June 5, launching from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket for NASA’s Boeing Crew Flight Test. They successfully docked at the space station at 1:34 p.m. on June 6 and will spend a week testing the Starliner and its subsystems as part of the spacecraft’s certification for future rotational missions under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program.
NASA’s Commercial Crew Program aims to provide safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to and from the International Space Station through collaboration with American private industry. This partnership allows for increased access to low-Earth orbit and the space station, enabling more individuals, scientific research, and commercial opportunities. The space station continues to serve as a crucial platform for NASA’s exploration efforts, including upcoming missions to the Moon through the Artemis program and, eventually, to Mars.
For additional details about the mission, please visit: www.nasa.gov/commercialcrew.
