Ceremonial First Pitch for Game One: Thrown on the International Space Station
Media Advisory / Fact Sheet
Ceremonial First Pitch for Game One: Thrown on the International Space Station
Media briefing
Interview Room at 4 p.m.
Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin and Jim McDonald, senior vice president of marketing and advertising for the RadioShack Corp., will provide information on the events leading up to the ceremonial First Pitch, thrown on the International Space Station.
Ceremonial First Pitch
Shown just before Game One starts
Dr. Peggy Whitson of NASA will be seen throwing the First Pitch to ISS Commander Valery Korzun of Russia’s Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center. Sergei Treschev of Russia’s RSC Energia filmed the event.
The First Pitch took place inside the U.S. Destiny laboratory module as the space station orbited at 17,500 miles an hour, some 240 miles above the Earth. The ball, signed by members of the 2002 All-Star Team, was delivered to ISS on Sept. 29 by a cargo spaceship delivering fuel and supplies. The crew filmed the First Pitch on Oct. 7.
The event is a cooperative effort among NASA, Major League Baseball, Fox Sports and RadioShack Corp. These entities began working together in July, when astronauts James Voss and Robert Cabana threw out simultaneous First Pitches for the All-Star Futures Game in Milwaukee. Members of the 2002 All-Star Team then signed both balls and NASA shipped them to Baikonur, Kazahkstan, the launch site for the Progress 9P cargo rocket that delivered them to the space station. When the balls are returned to Earth on a future Space Shuttle flight, one will be presented to the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, NY, and one will be put on display at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
RadioShack Space Marketing
RadioShack filmed the first commercial on the space station in May 2001, when it delivered Father’s Day gifts to the two dads on board at the time, Yuri Usachev and James Voss. The RadioShack talking picture frames, customized with the voices and photos of their daughters, arrived on the same Soyuz taxi mission that carried up Los Angeles financier Dennis Tito, the first tourist to visit the station. This spring, RadioShack sponsored the successful medical screening phase of Lance Bass’ bid to fly to the ISS. Mr. Bass, one of five *NSYNC vocalists, was awarded his medical clearance on May 31, 2002, and completed a course of cosmonaut training last week.
LunaCorp of Fairfax, Va., assists RadioShack in its space marketing activities.
Still photo excerpts from the First Pitch are available for the news media at www.wirepix.com
About RadioShack Corporation
Fort Worth, Texas-based RadioShack Corporation (NYSE: RSH) is the nation’s most trusted consumer electronics specialty retailer of wireless communications, electronic parts, batteries and accessories as well as other digital technology products and services. With more than 7,200 stores nationwide, it is estimated that 94 percent of all Americans live or work within five minutes of a RadioShack store or dealer. The company’s knowledgeable sales associates and brand position, “You’ve Got Questions, We’ve Got Answers,” support RadioShack’s mission to demystify technology in every neighborhood in America. For more information on the company, visit the RadioShack Corporation Web site at www.radioshackcorporation.com. For more information on RadioShack products and services, visit its e-commerce Web site at ww.radioshack.com.
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Contact:
Kay Jackson
RadioShack Media Relations
1-817-415-3300
media.relations@radioshack.com
David Gump
LunaCorp president
1-703-207-4500
1-703-623-9616 (cell)
www.lunacorp.com
