Royals do more than wine and dine

GREENBELT, Md., May 8 After the state dinner at the White House, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip turned their attention to the U.S. space program and other sites of interest.

The queen planned a phone call on Tuesday, to the one American and two Russian astronauts living aboard the International Space Station. The monarch will call the station during her visit to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland.

The queen's visit to the center marks the first ever by a foreign head of state, The Baltimore Sun noted.

While the queen talks to astronauts, Prince Philip's agenda includes visiting the center building where satellites and hardware are reviewed. The prince will get an idea of challenges for technicians who work on NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. He'll try out the bulky space gloves required for such work.

The Sun says a tree planting is in the works, in the "Rocket Garden" at the center, honoring the British royals ' visit. Other tour stops include the Children's National Medical Center and the National World War II Memorial. The British ambassador organized a black-tie dinner for guests like Gov. Martin O'Malley and his first lady Katie Curran O'Malley. At points in between, visits with students visiting Goddard from four Washington and Maryland schools were also scheduled.

Copyright 2007 by UPI

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