High school students from Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) Early College High School in Austin, Texas, will find out what it’s like to spend a year in space when they talk to the one-year crew currently living and working on the International Space Station at 10:25 a.m. EDT on Friday, Oct. 23.
The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency’s website.
Space station Commander Scott Kelly of NASA, who recently broke the U.S. astronaut record for longest time in space, and Flight Engineer Mikhail Kornienko of the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) will answer questions from students at the LBJ Presidential Library, where the students also will hear a presentation on NASA history and take part in a panel discussion with a number of former astronauts.
Media interested in covering the event at the school must contact Anne Wheeler at awheeler@lbjfoundation.org. The LBJ Presidential Library is located at 2313 Red River St. in Austin. The time of the call is subject to change depending on real-time space station operations.
Kelly and Kornienko launched to the station on March 27 for a year of research into how human bodies respond to long periods of time in microgravity. During their mission, Kelly, Kornienko and their crewmates will conduct more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human health research, physical sciences and technology development. On Oct. 16, Kelly broke the record for most time spent in space by an American, surpassing the previous record of 382 cumulative days in space.
This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Education Office’s efforts to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning in the United States. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides them with an authentic, live experience of space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing them to the possibilities of life in space.
For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/nasatv
For more information, videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station, visit:
https://www.nasa.gov/education/stemstation
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Sarah Ramsey
Headquarters, Washington
202-358-1694
sarah.ramsey@nasa.gov
Brandi Dean
Johnson Space Center, Houston
281-483-5111
brandi.k.dean@nasa.gov