The Ultimate Long-distance Call

May 9, 2008 — It’s out of this world. Literally. Students from the both coasts will call the International Space Station on Monday to speak to Expedition 17 astronaut Garrett Reisman and learn more about living and working in space. The call, from 11:20-11:40 a.m. CDT, will air live on NASA Television and be streamed at the NASA Web site. About 300 sixth-grade students from a science after-school program, One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center, in Richmond Hill, New York, and 18 second-graders from Valley Christian Elementary School, Bellflower, California will participate in the downlink conversation. The students have already designed mission patches, learned about space station science experiments, made models of the space station, and explored the NASA Web site for student research and activities. Four students from each student group have been selected to ask Reisman 10 questions, all reviewed and approved by NASA officials, the Press-Telegram of Long Beach, California reported. One of the questions Valley Christian teacher Pam Leestma is most excited about? "A demonstration in micro-gravity," she said. "There is so much win-win in this,” Leestma told the Press-Telegram. “We want so badly to not just inspire kids but parents and other people watching out there that grand things like this can happen." The chat is NASA’s first coast-to-coast Teaching in Space downlink. It will also be the first education downlink held in Southern California. For Leestma, the May 12 downlink is a build-up from years of involvement in space education conferences, such as those organized by the Johnson Space Center, and connecting with like-minded teachers, the Press-Telegram reported. Both classes have known since fall that they were selected for the downlink. A project to create their own International Space Station models kept students inspired during the wait, Leestma said. "I think it's starting to sink in how important this is.”

Students from Valley Christian Elementary School show off the model of the International Space Station they constructed. Photo credit: Valley Christian Elementary School NASA astronaut Garrett Reisman smiles for a photo aboard the International Space Station. Photo credit: NASA Students from Valley Christian Elementary School will call astronaut Garrett Reisman on Monday aboard the space station. Photo credit: Valley Christian Elementary School

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