Space Station Austronaut Answers Pensacola Students' Questions Live via Satellite Link

Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli answers Pensacola students' questions live from the Space Station via a real-time satellite link-up, 11-15-2023

I get invited to a lot of really cool events as a County Commissioner.  And I am always thankful for the invitation to attend great events in our area's schools.  Yesterday was a perfect example of this.  

Pensacola's Creative Learning Academy hosted a huge crowd from the community, to include elected officials, military officers, business leaders, parents and students--to watch a real-time conversation between students and an Astronaut aboard the international space station. 

These sorts of events don't come around often, either.  

In fact, this Pensacola school was the only school in the entire state of Florida approved for a real-time, satellite link up with the space station.

Another interesting point to note about this event: two of the four Astronauts aboard the station, including Astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli--the host of the interview and the Astronaut that would be answering the students' questions--began their flight training as Naval Aviators studying right here in Pensacola.  

So, at 8:30AM sharp, Head of School Kim Stafford welcomed the crowd of hundreds that had assembled in the packed school gymnasium, prior to the link up.  

Once the video call started, Astronaut Moghbeli floated in an open area of the space station, surrounded by all kinds of wires, boxes, tubes, equipment, and other paraphernalia--and fielded more than a dozen recorded questions from students.  To make the conversation more interesting, she let the microphone free float in front of her and/or spun it in the weightlessness of space a couple of times--to the delight of the students.  She even floated upside down to answer at least one question.  This move--along with her answer to the question--drew laughter from the students. 

The questions posed to Moghbeli came from first graders all the way through eighth graders--so the questions ranged from simple to amusing to interesting to thoughtful to complex.  Most of the answers were enlightening to the majority of participants in the room.  Each question was answered succinctly-- with informative video clips and personal, firsthand testimony from Moghbeli added in.  

How do you get power with no cords or generators?  What is your job on the station?  How do you wash your laundry in space?  What do stars look like from space?  How long does it take to put on your space suit? How do you exercise in Space?  When you float upside down does the blood all rush to your head like it does on Earth? --were some of the questions posed by CLA students. 

Who knew that Astronauts wear their pants for thirty days then simply dispose of them?  Who knew about the specialized machines created for exercise (2 1/2 hours per day per astronaut) that add resistance in zero gravity--and what they actually look like?  Who knew it takes nearly 6 hours to completely, safely put on a space suit prior to a spacewalk? Who knew how Astronauts actually bathe?

There were a lot of enlightening answers to all of the questions; a lot of us had a-ha moments, not just the elementary school students in attendance!  😀