WASHINGTON — Staring intently at the dual screens inside a flight simulator this month at the University of Pittsburgh, President Obama tapped the controls in front of him, firing faux thrusters as he pretended to maneuver his space shuttle toward the International Space Station. Pulse up. Pulse to the right. Left. Down. Down. Left. Left.
“Uber shuttle,” the beaming president told reporters after a brief but successful docking mission, joking that the next market for Uber would be outer space. “In case anyone calls, we’ll be there in five minutes.”
Image: President Obama, with Dr. Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor, a NASA astronaut, tried a spacecraft flight and docking simulator on a Boeing CST-100 Starliner this month at the University of Pittsburgh. Credit Al Drago/The New York Times
