Virginia Students to Speak Live with Space Station Crew

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Oct 01, 2015, 01:49 ET

WASHINGTON, Oct. 1, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A group of students from Robinson Secondary School in Fairfax, Virginia, will get the chance to speak with an astronaut who once studied in their classrooms and now is working and living on the International Space Station.

The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call is scheduled for 10:20 a.m. EDT on Monday, Oct. 5, and will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren, a 1991 graduate of Robinson, will be answering questions from 8th and 11th grade students at the school while orbiting 260 miles above Earth on the space station. Lindgren will be joined for the event by fellow Expedition 45 crew members NASA astronaut Scott Kelly and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Kimiya Yui.

Media interested in covering the event at the school must contact John Torre at 571-423-1200. Robinson Secondary School is located at 5035 Sideburn Road in Fairfax. The time of the call is subject to change depending on real-time station operations and weather conditions in the Fairfax area. Media should confirm the event with the school before arrival.

Lindgren and Yui arrived at the space station on July 23 for a five-month mission. Kelly is halfway through a year-long mission on the station. During Expedition 45, the station crew will conduct more than 250 science investigations in fields such as biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Education Office effort to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning in the United States. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides them with an authentic, live experience of space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing them to the possibilities of life in space.

For NASA TV streaming video, schedule and downlink information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

For education resources related to the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education/stemstation

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SOURCE NASA