Station's new solar panels earn high praise
WASHINGTON - U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords today joined President Obama, other members of Congress and a roomful of middle-school children for a very long distance call to the International Space Station.
Giffords, chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics, sat opposite Obama in the Roosevelt Room of the White House as he congratulated the space station crew for installing new solar panels.
"We're investing back here on the ground (in) a whole array of solar and other renewable energy projects and so to find out that you're doing this up at the space station is particularly exciting," Obama said, according to press reports about the 28-minute call.
Giffords agreed with the president, stating after the call that harnessing the power of the sun makes sense in space and on earth.
"The sun is our most abundant natural resource," said Giffords, who has long championed the expansion of solar energy. "By putting it to greater use we can help reduce our dependence on foreign energy sources, fight global warming and lay the foundation for a clean energy future."
The addition of "solar wings" to the space station will double the amount of power available for science experiments.
Click here for a link to a Washington Post story about the call. It includes a picture in which the congresswoman is visible on the far right.