Sep 15 2016

From The Space Library

MEDIA ADVISORY M16-110 Childhood Cancer Patients to Speak with NASA Astronaut on Space Station

Patients from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut currently living and working on the International Space Station at 3:55 p.m. EDT on Friday, Sept. 16. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website

Expedition 49 Flight Engineer Kate Rubins, who has a degree in cancer biology, will answer questions from several patients turned artists. In the fall of 2015, MD Anderson Cancer Center partnered with NASA’s Johnson Space Center to design a hand-painted spacesuit decorated by patients recovering at the hospital to raise awareness about the benefits of pairing art with medicine. Rubins, retired astronaut Nicole Stott, and other NASA personnel have lent their artistic talents to this project and worked as mentors to the patients over the past year.

Three spacesuits, HOPE, COURAGE and UNITY, were created during the project. Spacesuit UNITY was created at cancer hospitals in Germany, Russia, and Japan with collaboration from astronauts from NASA’s international partners, ESA (European Space Agency), the Russian Federal Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency. Rubins will wear the COURAGE suit during the conversation.