Facebook Live with Astronauts Kicks Off Year of Education on Space Station

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Oct 12, 2017, 20:00 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 12, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The first major event for the Year of Education on Station (YES) will be hosted by NASA astronaut Joe Acaba and ESA (European Space Agency) astronaut Paolo Nespoli on a special Facebook Live broadcast from the International Space Station.

The broadcast, which also will be carried live on NASA Television and the agency's website, will begin at 12:05 p.m. EDT on Monday, Oct.16.

International Space Station Program Manager Kirk Shireman will kick off the nearly continuous year of educators on the station through the event from NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. The event will be streamed live from the space station's official Facebook account.

NASA is coordinating an unprecedented number of special educational outreach activities and resources this school year that will feature all U.S. crew members aboard the outpost. The effort has been designated the Year of Education on Station and takes advantage of the unique capability of the space station to stimulate the interest of students from kindergarteners to post-graduates.

"As a dream realized through imagination, innovation, hard work and persistence, and dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, the station is an example, actually a shining star, of what can be achieved through learning," Shireman said. "Having astronauts with extensive experience as classroom educators, like Joe and Ricky, along with the entire crew, living and working on station is a great opportunity to inspire more students and teachers than ever before."

Before joining NASA, Acaba taught high school and middle school math and science in Florida. Vande Hei taught physics at United States Military Academy. Arnold, who launches to station in March 2018, taught middle school math and science in Maryland, as well as overseas in Morocco, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia and Romania. Together, they will bring their experience in the classroom and passion for teaching to bear during YES.

"While NASA continues to inspire students and educators through an array of missions and activities," said Mike Kincaid, acting associate administrator for the agency's Office of Education in Washington. "The Year of Education on Station provides an opportunity for NASA to use a unique platform to connect astronauts with millions of students and educators providing an extraordinary classroom experience."

The Year of Education will include opportunities for hundreds of students and teachers across the nation to speak directly with the astronauts in space. Thousands more will participate through NASA partnerships with companies, learning centers, associations, universities, media organizations and institutions. And new educational demonstrations filmed in orbit, linking life in space and human exploration, will be unveiled and available to classrooms coast to coast throughout the year.

Students, teachers and the public are invited to submit questions during the event through the station's Facebook page, as well as prior to the event via the NASA Education Twitter account @NASAedu using #TeacherOnBoard.

Learn more about the Year of Education on Station at:

https://www.nasa.gov/education/onstation

To follow astronauts Acaba and Nespoli on twitter, visit:

@AstroAcaba

@astro_paolo

SOURCE NASA