Abby Harrison with astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP who is in quarantine – Credit Astronaut Abby

15-year-old Abby Harrison is in Baikonur, Kazakhstan to watch the launch of her mentor, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano KF5KDP, on a Soyuz TMA-09M to the International Space Station (ISS) on Tuesday, May 28 at 2031 UT. She again met Luca but this time he was in quarantine prior to the launch.

Abby Harrison

Abby intends to be an astronaut and has set herself the goal of being the first person to reach Mars. She used her social media prowess to spearhead a successful RocketHub crowdfunding campaign, raising more than $30,000 to help pay for the trip.

Flying with Luca KF5KDP to the ISS will be Karen Nyberg and Fyodor Yurchikhin RN3FI, all three will stay on the ISS until mid-November.

NASA TV coverage of the launch will begin on May 28 at 1930 UT, and will include video of all pre-launch activities that day leading to the crew boarding its spacecraft. Watch the launch at NASA TV http://www.nasa.gov/ntv or at the Center for Operation of Space Ground-Based Infrastructure http://www.tsenki.com/en/broadcast/broadcast/live1.php

A list of astronauts who are also licensed radio amateurs can be seen at http://www.w5rrr.org/astros.html

Luca Parmitano KF5KDP on Twitter https://twitter.com/astro_luca

Karen Nyberg on Twitter https://twitter.com/AstroKarenN/

BBC News: US Teenager’s Space Ambitions
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/21/us-teenagers-space-ambitions/

High School Student’s RocketHub Project
https://amsat-uk.org/2013/05/11/high-school-students-rockethub-project/

Further information on “Astronaut Abby” at

• AstronautAbby.com
• @AstronautAbby
• www.facebook.com/AstronautAbby
• Abby’s RocketHub page