NASA Astronaut to Speak to Clinton Global Initiative Meeting Attendees from International Space Station

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Sep 23, 2014, 11:06 ET

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- NASA astronaut Reid Wiseman, a flight engineer with Expedition 40 currently aboard the International Space Station, and Expedition 26/27 NASA astronaut Cady Coleman will speak with former President Bill Clinton during the closing session of the 2014 Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York at 4:10 p.m. EDT Wednesday, Sept. 24.

The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Wiseman and Coleman will discuss the immense value in observing Earth from space, as well as the benefits of conducting such research with a diverse, international team.

The Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) convenes global leaders to create and implement solutions to the world's most pressing challenges. CGI Annual Meetings have brought together more than 180 heads of state, 20 Nobel Prize laureates, and hundreds of leading CEOs, heads of foundations and NGOs, major philanthropists, and members of the media.

Wednesday's event comes a week after NASA selected The Boeing Company and SpaceX for groundbreaking contracts to transport U.S. crews to and from the International Space Station from the United States with a goal of ending the nation's sole reliance on Russia in 2017. The U.S. missions to the space station following NASA certification of these new commercial systems will allow the station's current crew of six to grow, enabling the crew to conduct more research aboard the unique orbiting laboratory.

NASA monitors Earth's vital signs from land, air and space with a fleet of satellites and ambitious airborne and ground-based observation campaigns. NASA develops new ways to observe and study Earth's interconnected natural systems with long-term data records and computer analysis tools to better see how our planet is changing. The agency shares this unique knowledge with the global community and works with institutions in the United States and around the world that contribute to understanding and protecting our home planet.

For more information on Earth science activities aboard the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/issearthscience

For more information about NASA's Earth science activities in 2014, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/earthrightnow

For NASA Television downlink information, scheduling information and streaming video, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

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SOURCE NASA