Students in California to Speak with NASA Astronaut on Space Station

Students at Para Los Niños in Los Angeles will speak with a NASA astronaut living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 12:55 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 22. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Students will make the call to Expedition 54 Flight Engineer Joe Acaba of NASA, posing questions about life aboard the space station, NASA’s deep space exploration plans, and doing science in space.

Media interested in attending the event should contact Oliver DelGado at 213-925-1406 or odelgado@paralosninos.org. The event will take place at 5999 Center Drive in Los Angeles.

Students have been preparing for the event by studying the space station, astronaut biographies, and current research and activities aboard the space station.

Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of NASA’s Year of Education on Station, which provides extensive space station-related resources and opportunities to students and educators.

Astronauts living on the orbiting laboratory are able to participate in these educational calls, and communicate 24 hours a day with the Mission Control Center at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston, through the agency Space Network’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellites.

Learn more about the International Space Station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/station

Check out videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the space station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation