Students to Ask Questions to NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station

Students from across the nation will have an opportunity this week to hear from NASA astronaut Victor Glover aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space call will air live at 12:55 p.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 3, on NASA Television and the agency’s website.

Glover served as a pilot and second-in-command on Crew-1 SpaceX Crew Dragon and this is his first long-duration mission aboard the station. The Expedition 64 flight engineer will answer prerecorded questions from students during the downlink. Two Smithsonian Institution museums – the National Air and Space Museum, which will host the event, and the National Museum of African American History and Culture – are combining forces to engage students in a virtual art program to portray their vision of teamwork. Glover will introduce the art project in a prerecorded message discussing the importance of teamwork.

Media interested in covering the event should contact Alison Mitchell at the Smithsonian at [email protected] or 202-633-2376.

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. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with NASA’s Mission Control Center in Houston 24 hours a day through the Space Network’s Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS).

Through NASA’s Artemis program, the agency will send the first woman and next man to the Moon by 2024, with eventual human exploration of Mars. Students K-12 can participate in NASA’s newest mission through the agency’s Moon Pod Essay Contest, which challenges students to imagine leading a one-week lunar expedition.