Long-Distance Call: Obama dials for pizza, gets space station

WASHINGTON: Astronauts aboard the International Space Station got a very long-distance call on Friday from US President Barack Obama, who joked that he thought he was dialing out for pizza. Hot from giving a press conference at which he pushed Republicans to reach a deal on raising the US debt ceiling, the American president took time out to chat with the 10 astronauts currently aboard the ISS. “I was just dialing out for pizza, and I didn’t expect to end up in space,” Obama quipped, raising a laugh from the gathered crew. But turning serious, he told the astronauts how proud he was of them and said their work “ushers in an exciting new era to push the frontiers of space exploration and human spaceflight.”



Published in The Express Tribune, July 16^th, 2011.