President Obama speaks to Space Station Astronauts

The President welcomed a group of school children to the White House and held a conversation with the astronauts on board the Space Station. The astronauts explained the importance of the Space Station as a scientific research laboratory, the President discussed NASA's goals, and the students asked great questions.

Nice to see that the White House blog on this conversation also mentions WISE. 's first images. We "professionals" may sometime feel manned vs unmanned space programs are rivals, but to the public it is one joint enterprise, and we must stand or fall together.

First images from WISE

If I had stayed at IPAC I would have loved to work on the new WISE mid-infrared sky survey. So I'm excited to see this new WISE image of Andromeda just released by NASA:

And here are stars in Carina:

Science-Engineering-Technology Congressional Visits Day

I'll be participating in the Fifteenth Annual Science-Engineering-Technology Congressional Visits Day through the American Astronomical Society this spring.

The CVD is a two-day annual event that brings scientists, engineers, researchers, educators, and technology executives to Washington to raise visibility and support for science, engineering, and technology. Uniquely multi-sector and multi-disciplinary, the CVD is coordinated by coalitions of companies, professional societies and educational institutions and it is open to all people who believe that science and technology comprise the cornerstone of our Nation's future.

Objective
.. . to underscore the long-term importance of science, engineering, and technology to the Nation through meetings with congressional decisionmakers.

Participants
.. . . members of the Science-Engineering-Technology Working Group and other colleagues in the science and technology enterprise.

Should be interesting!