He'll Be Aboard The Space Station For 6 Weeks

U.S. Army astronaut Col. Tim Kopra Tuesday became the first International Space Station crew member to communicate through Twitter. Col. Kopra sent the following message, "What a fun shuttle mission - especially with 13 people on board station. Life here is amazing - still getting used to floating!" He will send periodic updates to his Earth-bound followers on his daily life in space.

Col. Tim Kopra

Kopra, an Austin, TX native, is living and working on the International Space Station as a member of Expedition 20. He arrived at the space station aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on July 17, 2009. Kopra conducted the first space walk of his career on July 18, 2009.

Kopra is serving as a flight engineer on the space station for the next six weeks and will be conducting various experiments. He will return to Earth on the next space shuttle mission to the space station scheduled for late August.

"Col. Kopra personifies Army values and the opportunities that the Army provides to its Soldiers," said Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, Commanding General of U.S. Army Accessions Command, responsible for Army recruiting. "Col. Kopra used many of the tools available in the Army - including a fully-funded undergraduate education at West Point, advanced degrees and aviation training - to help him succeed in his career at NASA. We are happy to see him harness the latest social media technology through Twitter to communicate an experience that only a select group of people have had the chance to accomplish."

Col. Kopra's Twitter messages from space are the latest in the U.S. Army's continued growth into social media. Internet users can submit a question to Col. Kopra to answer by video while he is in space online, and site visitors can also link to other Army astronauts' social networking pages.

Col. Kopra is an Army aviator and graduate of the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 1998, the Army assigned Col. Kopra to NASA's Johnson Space Center, a unique opportunity provided by the U.S. Army. He is one of four active duty soldier astronauts in the Army detachment at NASA, and he credits the Army for giving him the leadership skills and education he needed to become an astronaut.

The NASA Army detachment is part of the Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command.

FMI: http://twitter.com/astro_tim, www.goarmy.com/space