[NASA HQ News] Colorado Students to Speak Live with Space Station Commander

February 02, 2016  MEDIA ADVISORY M16-010 Colorado Students to Speak Live with Space Station Commander NASA astronaut Scott Kelly arrives aboard the International Space Station on March 28, 2015. Now, 50 years after Gemini V, Kelly and Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko are in the midst of a one-year stay in orbit aboard the space station. By doubling the length of the usual ISS stay, researchers hope to better understand how the human body reacts and adapts to longer-duration spaceflight. Credits: NASA Students from five elementary schools and five middle schools in Colorado will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut living and working on the International Space Station at 12:35 p.m. EST on Thursday, Feb. 4. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. During the event, hosted by Colorado Mesa University in Grand Junction, space station commander Scott Kelly will answer questions from students in kindergarten through eighth grade at Bookcliff Middle School, Cedaredge Elementary, Grand Mesa Middle School, Fruita Middle School, Independence Academy, New Emerson Elementary, Pomona Elementary, Taylor Elementary, Tope Elementary and West Middle School. Media interested in covering the event in person should contact Dana Nunn at dnunn@coloradomesa.edu. Colorado Mesa University is at 1100 North Avenue. Kelly launched to the station on March 27, 2015, to spend a year on the space station with Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Kornienko. They'll be wrapping up their stay in space and returning to Earth on March 1. 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 through NASA Education's STEM on Station activity 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: http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv For more information, videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station, visit: http://www.nasa.gov/education/stemstation To follow Kelly on Twitter, visit: http://www.twitter.com/@StationCDRKelly -end- NASA news releases and other information are available automatically by sending an e-mail message with the subject line subscribe to hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov. To unsubscribe from the list, send an e-mail message with the subject line unsubscribe to hqnews-request@newsletters.nasa.gov.