Guest alert: Garrett Reisman on ‘The Colbert Report’ – in space!

I caught wind of this a little while ago on the Comedy Central Insider, although they didn’t name the astronaut. Happily for me, Dave Borzillo’s Blog did identify the astronaut in question: Garrett Reisman.

From Florida Today, via Dave Borzillo’s Blog:

Space Team Blog by SpaceTeam on 5/5/08

NASA is bound to raise its cool quotient this week when an astronaut flying on the International Space Station makes an appearance on Comedy Central’s hip hit show “The Colbert Report.”

Station flight engineer Garrett Reisman, a New Jersey native who threw out a ceremonial first pitch from the outpost prior to a New York Yankees game against the rival Boston Red Sox last month, will do a space-to-ground interview with Colbert at 10:50 a.m. EDT Thursday. The interview, which will be webcast live here in The Flame Trench, will be aired on “The Colbert Report” at 11:30 p.m. EDT that night.

The producers of the show read stories about Reisman’s pitch, contacted NASA, and then arranged the interview, agency spokesman Rob Navias said. “Colbert apparently is not only a sports fan but a space fan,” he said.

NASA is not absolutely sure what the popular comedian will be asking Reisman, a fan of the show. Said agency spokesman Mike Curie: “It’s up in the air.”

. . .

Read the full post here

See? Stephen always wins. If TIME won’t name him to their “100 Most Influential People in the World” list again, Stephen’s just going to make sure he sets his sights out of this world!

And, just because I thought this was a cute interview (Stephen looked like a little boy who’d just been introduced to a superhero), here’s a reminder of the last time Stephen got to interview an astronaut:

• Comedy Central Vancouverage exclusive: Stephen Colbert sings “The Rocky Road to Dublin” on stage at Ireland House
• Daily Show Toss Recap – Klassic
• Because you know you’ve been singing this all day
• Stephen Colbert in the Zeitgeist – March 3, 2010