Science Center of Iowa hosts downlink with astronauts
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| Students prepare to ask the astronauts questions before the downlink. Each question appeared, as it was asked, on the board to the right of the screen. |
The Science Center of Iowa (SCI), an affiliate member of the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, hosted a live downlink with the astronauts aboard the International Space Station last summer. The downlink, provided by NASA, gave a dozen middle school students from throughout Iowa an opportunity to ask the astronauts their own questions.
The students already had developed an interest in space by participating in the International Space Station Design Challenge (as part of the NASA-Iowa Connection) or by taking part in an Aviation/Aerospace Camp sponsored in part by the Iowa Space Grant Consortium. They asked the astronauts questions such as, "How do you eat in space?" "Where do you sleep?" "What is a typical day like aboard the International Space Station?"
An audience of about 300, which included approximately 50 students, viewed the astronauts via NASA's cable channel. Most gathered in front of the 20' x 30' screen in the SCI's main exhibit hall, and about 120 watched a large monitor in the SCI's Sargent Space Theater Planetarium. One by one, the students stepped up to the microphone to ask questions they had written and submitted to NASA. Because the astronauts--Beaconsfield, Iowa, native Peggy Whitson and Russians Valery Korzun and Sergei Treschev--were given the questions ahead of time by NASA, they were able to embellish their answers with demonstrations and film clips.
Once the students had read their 10 preselected questions, they were able to ask the astronauts other questions. "The opportunity for them to talk live to an astronaut on the International Space Station is something they will remember throughout their lives," said Kim Hunter, SCI director of programs. Afterwards, the students who had been the questioners were on the receiving end when they were interviewed by reporters covering the event.
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| Beth Zavala, eighth grade teacher at Meredith Middle School in Des Moines, is interviewed by reporters after the downlink. Some of her students who participated in the NASA-Iowa Connection asked the astronauts questions. |
Students from the 25 Iowa classrooms that had participated in the NASA-Iowa Connection, along with their teachers, were invited to the Science Center for the event.The NASA-Iowa Connection is a cooperative program between NASA and Iowa Public Television aimed at teaching middle school students about science and technology in space.
SCI was selected as the site for the downlink after submitting a proposal to NASA. Although no plans are in the works to repeat the downlink, SCI hopes to do it again. "We are very proud of the wonderful relationship we have with NASA, the Iowa Communications Network, the Iowa Space Grant Consortium, Iowa State University and Iowa Public Television that allows us to offer such incredible experiences to students," Hunter said.
Whitson, the first female astronaut from Iowa to go to outer space, returned from the International Space Station in December.