PRESS
RELEASE
310.450.8338, ext. 229 16 NOV 2009
SMMUSD ALUMNUS IS OUT THIS
WORLD!
The
Santa Monica-Malibu Unified School District is proud to announce that Randy
Bresnik, an SMMUSD alumnus, is headed to the International Space Station today
for an eleven-day mission to deliver and secure supplies to the station.
Bresnik
graduated from Santa Monica High School in 1985. He also attended Grant Elementary and John
Adams Middle School.
Bresnik
will be going up on the NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis flight STS-129. The shuttle leaves today, Monday, November 16
at approximately 2:30pm EST. It is
scheduled to return on Friday, November 27, weather permitting.
While in
space, the six-person crew will be docking at the International Space
Station. The mission for this flight is
to deliver parts to the space station, including two spare gyroscopes. The shuttle program is scheduled to end next
year, and only five final flights remain.
The vehicle that will be used to travel to the space station following
the final shuttle flight will not be able to carry the kinds of large payloads
that flight STS-129 will be transporting.
Bresnik
will be part of two of the three E.V.A.s (space walks outside the space
station), the purpose of which is to attach the extra parts to the outside of
the station for storage and later use.
Returning
with Bresnik and the crew of flight STS-129 will be fellow Nicole Stott, who
traveled to the space station on a previous flight.
When
Bresnick returns from space, he will be the proud father of a new
daughter. His wife, Rebecca, is
scheduled to give birth on November 20 while Bresnick is in space.
To read
more information about flight STS-129, visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html. To read the blog for flight STS-129’s launch,
visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/launch/launch_blog.html.
####
SANTA
MONICA-MALIBU UNIFIED
ph:
310.450.8338; fax: 310.581.1138
www.smmusd.org