NEWS RELEASE:
NATIONAL SPACE SOCIETY PRESIDENT CHARLIE WALKER JOINS OTHER ASTRONAUT ON APRIL 6 RADIO SHOW
Penn State broadcast accessible to worldwide Internet audience

CONTACT: Karen Rugg, 202-543-1900

(Washington, DC) -- April 4 -- National Space Society President Charlie Walker and astronaut Jim Pawelczyk will be the guests of Penn State President Graham Spanier on his radio call-in program, "To the Best of My Knowledge," airing Monday, April 6 at 7:00 pm ET on WPSU-FM (90.1, 91.5 and 106.7). Internet users worldwide will be able to link to sound and pictures from the program at http://www.psu.edu/ur/tech/tech.html. Listeners with questions about America's future in space can call 1-800-543-8242 during the one-hour broadcast.

Penn State Researcher James Pawelczyk is one of two primary payload specialists on NASA's 17-day Columbia mission set to launch later this month. Charles Walker, the first industry-sponsored payload specialist, flew three shuttle missions in the '80s, when he tested devices for producing pharmaceuticals in the weightlessness of space.

The program will feature a wide-ranging discussion about the upcoming shuttle mission and the future of commercial and research missions in space.

The National Space Society, founded in 1974, is an independent, nonprofit space advocacy organization headquartered in Washington, DC. Its 23,000 members and 90 chapters around the world actively promote a spacefaring civilization.