Cincinnati Reds Honor a Hometown Hero, Celebrate NASA

HOUSTON—Fairborn native and NASA astronaut Gregory H. Johnson will be honored at the Cincinnati Reds game August 4th. He will throw out the first ceremonial pitch as the team hosts the Chicago Cubs.

Fans will have the chance to meet Johnson during an autograph session immediately following the first pitch. Print media interviews will be available at the ballpark on game day. Johnson will also be available for broadcast media interviews the day before the game on the morning of August 3rd from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. To schedule an interview with Johnson, contact Victor Scott at 281-483-4942 or victor.j.scott@nasa.gov.

Johnson will also make a stop at the Cincinnati Museum Center at Union Terminal from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 4th. The event is free and open to the public. Johnson will talk about his life as an astronaut, answer audience questions and sign autographs.

Johnson graduated from Park Hills High School in Fairborn, Ohio and received a B.S. in aeronautical engineering from the U.S. Air Force Academy, an M.S. in flight structures engineering from Columbia University and an M.B.A. from the University of Texas. Selected by NASA to become an astronaut in 1998, he served as pilot of STS-123 in March 2008. It was the 25th assembly mission to the International Space Station during which he and his crewmates delivered the first major component of the Japanese Experiment Module and the final element of the station’s Mobile Servicing System.

Johnson joins a team of astronauts this baseball season who are returning to their home regions to celebrate two NASA milestones – the 10th anniversary of the station in orbit and the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing.

For more information about NASA, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/home