Galveston Island, Texas – Astronaut Catherine “Cady” Coleman, who has logged over 4,330 hours in space aboard the Space Shuttle Columbia and most recently the International Space Station, returned a piece of decking from the 1877 ELISSA in a special ceremony Saturday, April 28th at Texas Seaport Museum.

On December 15th, 2010 a Soyuz spacecraft carrying Flight Engineer Coleman, docked with the International Space Station. Among the items Coleman brought, was a piece of the deck from ELISSA. Galveston Historical Foundation & ELISSA volunteers Devon & Teresa Decker, friends to Cady, made ELISSA's voyage to the ISS possible. “Catherine is a friend of both Teresa and myself and knows we are ELISSA crew members. She asked us to provide her with some mementos to take with her to the ISS and, after conferring with the Texas Seaport Museum, we settled on a small section of ELISSA’s deck that had been replaced and a postcard with some ELISSA history on it.” says Devon.

During her visit, Coleman presented the piece of decking that flew of 53 million miles in space, regaled the volunteers with an incredible slide show of her almost 5 months in space aboard the International Space Station and ventured aloft, escorted by GHF President Joe Wilhelm and ELISSA volunteer Devon Decker.

“Today ELISSA is much more than an artifact from a bygone era.” Says Jamie White, Director of the Texas Seaport Museum. “She is a fully-functional vessel that, thanks to Galveston Historical Foundation and its commitment to bring history to life, and the dedication of hundreds of volunteers who keep her seaworthy and train each year to sail her, is alive and well.”

About the 1877 Tall Ship ELISSA

ELISSA, operated and maintained by the Galveston Historical Foundation, is a three-masted, iron-hulled sailing ship built in 1877 in Aberdeen, Scotland by Alexander Hall & Company. She carries nineteen sails covering over one-quarter of an acre in surface area.

For more information on ELISSA and the Texas Seaport Museum, please contact Director Jamie White at jamie.white@galvestonhistory.org. For more information on the Galveston Historical Foundation please contact Executive Director Dwayne Jones at dwayne.jones@galvestonhistory.org or visit www.galvestonhistory.org.

Individuals in the photo are (from lef to right): GHF President Joe Willhelm, NASA Astronaut Catherine "Cady" Coleman and ELISSA volunteer Devon Decker.