Students Make the Ultimate Long Distance Call to the Space Station

Students from coast to coast will have the opportunity to make an out of this world call to the International Space Station on Monday, May 12, from 11:20 a.m. to 11:40 a.m. CDT. The students and educators from One Stop Richmond Hill Community Center, Richmond Hill, N.Y., and Valley Christian Elementary School, Bellflower, Calif., will participate in the event.

The two locations will be part of a 20 minute in-flight education downlink, allowing students from across the country to share in this unique collaborative experience. During the event, students and educators will interact with Expedition 17 astronaut Garrett Reisman. Both locations used NASA education resources to enhance their existing curriculum and worked together to develop a comprehensive education plan to compliment the downlink. Students 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.

NASA's education downlinks support the agency's efforts to encourage students to study and possibly pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). These events, facilitated by NASA's Teaching From Space Office, use the unique experience of human space flight to promote and enhance STEM education.

The downlink will air live on NASA Television and be streamed on the NASA Web site.