California Students To Speak Live With Space Station Astronauts

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Jun 04, 2012, 11:28 ET

WASHINGTON, June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students at Junction Avenue K-8 School in Livermore, Calif., will speak with Expedition 31 flight engineers Don Pettit, Joseph Acaba and Andre Kuipers aboard the International Space Station at 12:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, June 6. Media representatives are invited to attend.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20081007/38461LOGO)

Elementary and middle school students will ask Pettit, Acaba and Kuipers questions about life, work and research aboard the orbiting space station. The event will be broadcast live on NASA Television and include video of the space station residents. Former NASA astronaut Tammy Jernigan will be at the school to speak with students.

To attend the event, reporters must contact Jamal Fields at [email protected] or 925-606-4720, ext. 6374. Junction Avenue K-8 School is located at 298 Junction Ave.

NASA activities have been incorporated into classes at the school in preparation for the conversation with the space station astronauts. First grade students are learning about local former astronauts who have been part of the space program, including Jernigan, Jeff Wiseoff and Jose Hernandez. Classes focused on health have highlighted advances made through space exploration to improve human life. Art and leadership classes designed a logo for an "Opportunities Out of This World" theme focused on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

Pettit, Kuipers, and Russian cosmonaut Oleg Konenenko arrived at the space station on Dec. 23, 2011. Acaba and Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Sergei Revin joined them on May 17.

This in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve STEM teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program.

The exact time of the downlink could change. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA's education programs, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/education

For information about the International Space Station, visit:

http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA