Hans Schlegel and Léopold Eyharts from the European Space Agency and NASA’s Carl Walz will discuss their experiences aboard the International Space Station, Tuesday, June 24, 2:00 p.m. at the National Air and Space Museum’s Space Hall. A question-and-answer session will follow the presentation, and visitors will have the opportunity to meet the astronauts during an autograph signing at the conclusion of the program.

Hans Schlegel, of Germany, has completed two tours in orbit and helped install the European space laboratory Columbus in the International Space Station in February 2008. He conducted a spacewalk as part of the mission. French astronaut Léopold Eyharts is also a veteran of two space flights. He traveled with Schlegel to the International Space Station and participated in the activation of the Columbus laboratory. Former NASA astronaut Carl Walz has spent 231 days in space, including his record-breaking flight endurance of 196 days aboard the International Space Station on Expedition Four.

“Meet the Astronauts” is a free public program presented by the National Air and Space Museum, the German Embassy, the Embassy of France, the European Space Agency, the German Aerospace Center and NASA.

The National Air and Space Museum is on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., at Sixth Street and Independence Avenue S.W. The museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center is located in Chantilly, Va., near Washington Dulles International Airport. Both facilities are open daily from 10 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. (closed Dec. 25). Admission is free, but there is a $12 fee for parking at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

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