News - National
After Obama phone call, astronauts get back to work
Posted: Feb 18, 2010 7:11 AM by Bea Karnes, News First 5
Updated: Feb 18, 2010 7:11 AM
After a time-out for a congratulatory phone call from the president, astronauts onboard the International Space Station got right back to work.
They've wrapped up the bulk of the work on Tranquility, a multimillion dollar room shuttled into space by Endeavour. Yesterday, they threw open the shutters on Tranquility's seven-windowed observation dome.
But, the crew still needed to move a water-recycling system into Tranquility, as well as an oxygen generator and toilet. During a 20-minute phone call to astronauts, President Barack Obama assured them of his "unwavering" commitment to NASA. He didn't mention his decision to cancel NASA's back-to-the-moon program.
The astronauts also took questions from middle schoolers with the president, telling them that they can see the Golden Gate Bridge and New York skyscrapers from space. Endeavour will undock from the space station Friday and return to Earth on Sunday.
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