Obama Calls MIT Alums and Others in Space

With their toes hooked on floor handles to anchor them still, and with the cosmos tearing past them at 17,000 miles per hour, the crews from the International Space Station and Space Shuttle STS-119 gathered Tuesday, March 24th to receive a phone call from President Obama. Among the astronauts were MIT alums Mike Fincke '89, Expedition 18 commander, and Tony Antonelli '89, who piloted the STS-119 mission through its ISS arrival one week prior.

Watch a 10-minute segment of the call below, or visit NASA's Web site for the full length video and transcript.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3AAh7bBwcQ0&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nasawatch.com%2Farchives%2F2009%2F03%2Fpresidential_ph.html&feature=player_embedded]

The day after the president's call, Fincke placed his own long distance phone call to Class of 1989 Secretary Henry Houh. Video below:

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTGWfs-pZpE]

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