Students from across America are set to participate in three live events with astronauts aboard the International Space Station next week. The events serve as question-and-answer sessions and are hosted as part of NASA’s Year of Education on Station. Each call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Astronauts will provide unique insight on their training, the day-to-day details of life in space, upcoming science investigations and the importance of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) in education.
The first call takes place at 11:15 a.m. EDT Monday, June 25, at the Spruce Street School in New York. Students will speak with NASA astronaut Ricky Arnold. To cover this event, media should contact Valerie Salitan at 212-266-4800 or vaslitan@sprucestreetnyc.org. The event will be hosted at 12 Spruce St., New York.
The next downlink will be with NASA astronaut Serena M. Auñón-Chancellor at 11:05 a.m. Wednesday, June 27, at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington. Attendees will include 300-400 middle school students from the greater D.C. metro area. Future Engineers, an online K-12 educational platform, is partnering with the Smithsonian and including its national design challenge winners. Media representatives should contact Alison Mitchell at 202-633-2376 or mitchellac@si.edu to request an opportunity to participate. The event will take place at Independence Avenue Southwest at 6th St., Washington.
The week’s final call will be with Auñón-Chancellor at 1:40 p.m. Thursday, June 28, from NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center in California. The event is hosted as part of Armstrong’s Bring Your Child to Work Day. Several local scout groups and summer camps will make up an audience of about 200 students. The event will take place in one of the center’s hangars, where students will be able to see NASA aircraft. Media interested in covering the event should contact Leslie Williams at 661-276-3893 or leslie.a.williams@nasa.gov. This event is held at 4800 Lilly Ave., Edwards, California.
Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in STEM. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA personnel on Earth 24 hours a day through the Space Network’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS).
Follow the astronauts on social media at:
https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts
See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at:
https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation