Orbiting Astronauts Plan Special Call to Students

April 12, 2010 — It’s one long distance call that is truly out of this world. On Wednesday, astronauts orbiting 220 miles above Earth will speak with students in Eastern Guilford High School in Gibsonville, North Carolina. The call between the students and space shuttle Commander Alan Poindexter and Mission Specialists Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger, Stephanie Wilson and Clay Anderson will take place at 1:06 p.m. EDT. Eastern Guilford High School is hosting students from Eastern Guilford Middle School and four elementary schools for the downlink. The school also will broadcast the event to the entire Guilford County Schools district, which serves more than 71,000 students. Students have been preparing for the downlink by conducting NASA engineering design challenges and implementing agency robotics resources and activities into K-12 classrooms. A science, technology, engineering and math, or STEM, club was organized to increase participation and interest, particularly by female students. The school's guidance department also is collaborating with local universities to help students investigate and explore STEM opportunities beyond graduation. In December 2009, NASA awarded Guilford County Schools a two-year grant of nearly $1 million to help middle and high school teachers develop science lessons using the space agency's content. The astronauts launched April 5, aboard space shuttle Discovery from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. During the 13-day mission to the International Space Station, the crew will deliver science experiments and supplies; take three spacewalks to switch out a gyroscope on the station's truss or backbone; install a spare ammonia storage tank and return a used one; and retrieve a Japanese experiment from the station's exterior. NASA Television will air video of the astronauts during the downlink. For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, click here.

Dottie Metcalf-Lindenburger is one of three teachers selected to fly as shuttle mission specialists in the 2004 Educator Astronaut Class. She operates the shuttle's robotic arm. Without robotics, major accomplishments like building the station, repairing satellites in space and exploring other worlds would not be possible. Image credit: NASA NASA astronaut Rick Mastracchio, STS-131 mission specialist, participates in the mission's second spacewalk as construction and maintenance continue on the International Space Station. Image credit: NASA

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