Nasa Astronaut Talks with Student Chess Opponents Thursday
October 7, 2008
HOUSTON -- NASA astronaut Greg Chamitoff will meet his opponents in the
ongoing Earth vs. space chess match Thursday, Oct. 9. At 1:05 p.m. CDT,
NASA Television will broadcast the live linkup with Chamitoff, who lives
aboard the International Space Station, and his competitors from the
Stevenson Elementary School in Bellevue, Wash.

Reporters may attend the event in the Bellevue Community College's
Carlson Theater, where the kindergarten through third grade members of
the U.S. Chess Championship Team and its chess club teammates will
gather.

The students are key players in the Earth vs. space match, proposing
moves that are voted on by the public via the Internet. The match began
Sept. 29.

The U.S. Chess Federation is facilitating the match on its Web site at:

http://www.uschess.org/nasa2008

Chamitoff, a space station flight engineer orbiting 210 miles above
Earth at five miles a second, is a chess aficionado. He brought a chess
set with him when he arrived at the complex last June. Chamitoff has
added Velcro to the chess pieces to keep them from floating away in the
weightlessness of space. He has been playing long-distance chess with
station control centers around the world. So far, he is undefeated.

For more information about the U.S. Chess Federation, visit:

http://www.uschess.org

For more about Chamitoff and the space station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

For NASA TV schedule updates, downlinks, and streaming video
information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv
   
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