Bob Jacobs
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1600
bob.jacobs@nasa.gov

Marny Skora                                                        
NASA Langley Research Center
757-864-6121/344-6111
marny.skora@nasa.gov

RELEASE: 12-031

COLBERT ADVOCATES NASA SPACE STATION RESEARCH

HAMPTON, Va. -- Stephen Colbert, host of the nightly 'The Colbert
Report,' said in a new NASA public service announcement released
today that he's always been a huge fan of space.

The talk show host tells his Colbert Nation -- and the world -- that
he now likes space even more "because NASA is doing great things on
the International Space Station (ISS)."

The completion of the ISS ushered in new era of research and discovery
in a near gravity-free environment. Research on the orbital
laboratory is focused on four areas: human health and exploration;
basic life and physical sciences; earth and space science; and
technology development to enable future exploration.

Colbert specifically mentions the agency's work aboard the space
station to develop new vaccines to fight infectious and deadly
diseases, such as salmonella and pneumonia. As resistance toward
current antibiotics becomes more common, there is an increasing need
for alternative treatments.

The Comedy Central comedian has had a continuing interest in the ISS.
In 2009, when NASA asked the public to help name the station's Node
3, Colbert urged his followers to submit the name "Colbert." The name
received the most entries and astronauts continue to exercise on the
most famous treadmill in the world, the Combined Operational
Load-Bearing External Resistance Treadmill or COLBERT, in the
station's Tranquility module.

To view the Colbert video, go to:

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/technology/features/colbert_psa.html

To view other NASA public service announcement videos, visit

http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/PSA/index.html

For more information on NASA and ISS research, visit

http://www.nasa.gov/station