With NASA astronaut Scott Kelly's year-long tenure at the International Space Station (ISS), it looks like the record-breaker will finally get a chance to relax (besides taking twitpics and playing ping-pong, that is). In honor of Kelly, whose mission will end in March, NASA's premiere radio station, Third Rock, is letting the astronaut host a two-hour-long show, giving the audience insight into "Kelly's extraordinary #YearInSpace aboard the ISS."
"The Scott Kelly Out of This World Tour: Rocking the One-Year Mission" will start airing at 5 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 18, and feature snippets of Kelly's story, like how Kelly was picked for the year-long mission team along with cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko, and how he overcame and adapted to the difficulties of a zero-gravity life in space.
"The Year-In-Space mission holds historic significance for future NASA astronauts," said Patrick Fant, one of the members of the station's radio producer RFC Media. "This is a great chance to inspire our listeners — and the world — by giving them an up-close and personal sense of what it's like to live and work on the ISS."
Third Rock, NASA's Internet radio station, was launched in 2011, in an effort to look for "new and innovative ways to engage the public and inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers," said David Weaver, associate administrator for NASA's Office of Communications, in a statement released at the time. "We have led the way in innovative uses of new media and this is another example of how the agency is taking advantage of these important communication tools."
The station is a bit more lively than NASA's description allows, playing alt and indie rock for listeners — and space enthusiasts — worldwide.
Learn more about Third Rock Radio in the video clip below.
Source: NASA | Third Rock Radio
