Note to Editors: Photographers and reporters are invited to attend the events at Macky Auditorium and the CU-Boulder Heritage Center in Old Main.
CU-Boulder astronaut-alumnus Jim Voss, headed to the International Space Station in three months, will be on campus Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 to receive an honorary degree, speak at the Macky Auditorium and meet with local schoolchildren.
On Dec. 21, he will meet with a group of 25 Longmont students from Nancy Feraro聮s fourth grade Burlington Elementary School class from 9:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m in the Space Room at the CU Heritage Center in Old Main. From 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., Voss will meet at the Heritage Center with 25 students from Michael O聮Neill聮s sixth-grade class from Southern Hills Middle School in Boulder.
Voss, who received a master聮s degree in aerospace engineering sciences from CU-Boulder in 1974, will be the main speaker at the College of Engineering and Applied Science Graduate Recognition Ceremony at 8 p.m. Dec. 21 at Macky Auditorium. Seating is limited.
He will receive his honorary degree at the CU-Boulder graduation ceremony on Dec. 22 in the Coors Events/Conference Center.
Slated to receive an honorary degree at the May 2000 commencement from CU-Boulder along with seven other CU astronaut alumni, Voss was unable to attend because of his shuttle mission. One of CU-Boulder聮s most active astronaut- alums, Voss will be making his fifth shuttle flight in February 2001 on Discovery to spend four-and-one-half months aboard the International Space Station.
Voss previously flew on a 1991 military flight aboard Atlantis and a 1992 military flight aboard Columbia. He also was the payload commander for a 1995 mission that successfully deployed and retrieved the SPARTAN satellite.
Voss performed nearly seven hours of space walks to work on the exterior of the space station with mission specialist Jeff Williams during the May 2000 shuttle flight. The crew of the 10-day Atlantis mission included Russian cosmonaut Uri Usachev, who had previously spent more than a year on Russia聮s Mir Space Station.
Voss is one of 15 CU astronaut-alumni who have flown in space.