US: Astronaut to give university speech from space
But he'll be out of town on May 10, orbiting the globe on the International Space Station, so, UConn has arranged for the 54-year-old astronaut give the speech from space.
His
recorded
address
will
be
shown
on
the
video
boards
at
Gampel
Pavilion
to
about
5,000
people,
including
more
than
400
graduating
seniors
and
their
families,
and
several
members
of
Mastracchio's
family,
including
his
wife,
Candi.
"I
remain
a
bit
nervous,"
said
Kazem
Kazerounian,
the
dean
of
the
engineering
school,
who
helped
set
up
the
unusual
graduation
speech.
"We have never tried anything like this before, and I know that the world will be watching us. So, while I'm excited, I still have to have my fingers crossed," said Mastracchio, who earned a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and computer engineering from UConn in 1982. He will receive an honorary doctorate.
He is wrapping up his fourth trip into space, an eight-month stint aboard the space station, and has spent more than 51 hours on space walks outside the orbiting laboratory. He recorded the speech over the weekend and beamed it back to NASA, which was converting the file on Friday to send to UConn. This won't be Mastracchio's first contact with a Connecticut audience from space.
Last month, he and colleague Steve Swanson did a live question-and-answer session from the space station with children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, which has a new building since the December 2012 shooting that killed 26 people.
He is the third astronaut to give a commencement speech from space, NASA spokesman Jay Bolden said. The first two both occurred at the University of North Dakota, including an address in August by astronaut Karen Nyberg.
PTI