William Atkins
Saturday, 17 January 2009 03:27
Science -
Space
Page 1 of 3
The 56th U.S. Inauguration on January 20, 2009, featuring the swearing-in ceremonies for President-elect Obama and Vice President-elect Biden, will also include a parade highlighting the NASA astronauts who recently returned from the International Space Station and a next-generation lunar rover for exploration of the Moon.
Activities of the January 20, 2009
Presidential Inauguration in the United States appear at the About.com websote. The parade begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time (EST).
Additional information about the
U.S. inauguration events also appears on the U.S. Senate website.
The January 16, 2009 media release “
56th Inauguration Features NASA Astronauts, Lunar Rover, Panoramic Photos and Live Twitter,” states that "
The [inauguration]
parade will travel down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington on Jan. 20 following swearing-in ceremonies for President-elect Barack Obama and Vice President-elect Joseph Biden.”
It continues,
“Many of the participating astronauts -- Commander Chris Ferguson, Pilot Eric Boe, mission specialists Donald Pettit, Steve Bowen, Heidemarie Stefanyshyn-Piper, Shane Kimbrough and Greg Chamitoff -- flew on space shuttle Endeavour in November 2008 on the STS-126 mission.”
In addition, U.S. astronaut
Mike Gernhardt, who last flew in space on mission STS-104 on July 12-24, 2001, will drive a concept lunar rover in the parade.
In the passenger seat will be U.S. astronaut
Rex Walheim, who last flew for NASA on the STS-122 mission on February 7-20, 2008. Walheim will be wearing a NASA spacesuit while sitting next to Gernhardt.
The next-generation lunar rover is called the Lunar Electric Rover, which is described by
NASA as
“about the size of a pickup truck” that is being evaluated
“for use when humans return to the moon.”
Page two continues with additional information on the LER.
