Exciting, incredible, magnificent. That’s how 20 Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) students described talking live to two astronauts on the International Space Station on November 26. Students began lining up to ask their questions as the words “We are ready. Charles County Public Schools, this is mission control Houston. Please call station for a voice check,” flowed from the Telepresence screen at La Plata High School. Two astronauts appeared on a large screen and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Charles County Public Schools (CCPS) began Expedition 37/38, a live downlink from space as part of NASA’s Teaching from Space initiative. CCPS is one of seven school systems selected to participate this year. Twenty CCPS students had the opportunity to question Mike Hopkins and Rick Mastroacchio as the astronauts tossed the microphone back and forth and demonstrated zero gravity by floating around the space station. Students asked the astronauts about life and work in space. Candace Jackson, a fourth-grade student at William A. Diggs Elementary School, said her favorite part was, “watching the astronauts float around and act silly when they answered my question.” Jackson asked the astronauts, “Why doesn’t the sun make outer space bright?” The fourth […]
↧