WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation today announced it will stream a NASA briefing direct from the International Space Station (ISS). Via a live downlink, NASA Astronaut Tom Marshburn – who took up residence on the ISS in December – will discuss the opportunities provided by the station’s unique microgravity environment.

The briefing will be live on the Commerce Committee website on Tuesday, May 7, from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.

While led by NASA, the ISS is the product of one of the most ambitious international collaborations attempted, with participation from Canada, Japan, Russia, and 11 other European nations.  Constructed over the course of 115 space flights and 162 space walks between 1998 and 2011, the ISS spans the length of a football field, end zone to end zone.  At approximately 220 miles above Earth, it has traveled over 1.5 billion miles at a speed of about 17,500 miles per hour and has continuously supported crews for over 12 years. 

Now at full operation, the ISS – designated as a U.S. National Laboratory by an Act of Congress in 2005 – has enabled research useful to those of us on Earth.  ISS research initiatives not only prepare humans for long-duration space flight, but also provide biomedical, defense, STEM education, and disaster response applications.  Research into human physiology and medicine, for instance, have enabled better modeling of cancer development in the human body, advanced new techniques for combating cancer and infectious disease, and provided clues valuable in the development of vaccines. ISS Earth observation technologies provide data to first responders in the event of disaster, help farmers improve agricultural production, and monitor fish-rich ocean regions. ISS educational efforts have connected over 42 million students in forty-four countries.  

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