posted 11-11-2013 09:05 PM               

The ISS 15 Year Celebration is open to all (tickets required) and will include:

• Food and refreshments
  
• Special program at 7pm
  
• Live music
  
• Astronaut autographs

posted 11-21-2013 07:14 AM               

• The "special program" promoted prior to the event was indeed special. The speakers included:
  
  • Ellen Ochoa, Johnson Space Center Director
    
  • Bill Gerstenmaier, AA for Human Exploration and Operations
    
  • Mike Suffredini, NASA ISS Program Manager
    
  • Alexei Krasnov, Roscosmos ISS Program Manager
    
  • Masazumi Miyake, JAXA ISS Program Manager
    
  • Bernardo Patti, ESA ISS Program Manager
    
  • Pierre Jean, CSA ISS Program Manager
    
  • Alexander Samokutyaev, cosmonaut
    
  • Don Pettit, astronaut
  
  Each gave brief but engaging and heartfelt tributes to the ISS program and those who made and continue to make it possible. There was a real sense of pride in the international cooperation the program has forged and a strong desire to see it continue, not just to 2020 as currently planned, but to 2028 (2013+15=2028).

  I've sat through a lot of these presentations and they can often be self-congratulatory and somewhat stale. Last night was an exception, with the participants truly conveying the passion they had for the program to the audience (which included quite a cross section of the International Space Station community).

• The unexpected but absolutely wonderful musical performance by Dan Burbank, Don Pettit and Cady Coleman, together with Cady's friend and professional musician Teresa Suber.

  Pettit played his "favorite instrument" — a space-age version of a didgeridoo that he devised in orbit from the space station's vacuum hose and assorted attachments. Here's a brief video clip from one of the numbers they performed:

The evening also included a good amount of time to mingle. There were astronauts peppered across the crowd. In addition to those already mentioned, I spotted Mike Fossum, Aki Hoshide, Nicole Stott, Peggy Whitson, Ron Garan, TJ Creamer, Scott Kelly, Hans Schlegel, Carl Walz, Frank Culbertson, Joe Engle and Tom Stafford.