Nantucket Students to Speak to Space Station Commander

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Dec 13, 2016, 04:35 ET

WASHINGTON, Dec. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students in Nantucket, Massachusetts, will have the opportunity to speak with a NASA astronaut living and working aboard the International Space Station at 10:25 a.m. EST Thursday, Dec. 15. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Expedition 50 Commander Shane Kimbrough will answer questions from kindergarten through eighth grade students at Nantucket New School. The students and their teachers have been preparing for the event by extending their traditional space curriculum to include activities related to current NASA missions, such as the International Space Station, Hubble Space Telescope and New Horizons mission.

Media interested in covering the event should contact Amanda Brodbeck at [email protected]. Nantucket New School is located at 15 Nobadeer Farm Road.

Kimbrough launched to the station on Oct. 19 and will return home in February 2017.

This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Office of Education'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 the agency Office of Education's STEM on Station activity provides authentic, live experiences in space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing 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/stemonstation

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SOURCE NASA