Astronaut Talks With Wheat Ridge High School Students Via Downlink From Space
WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (CBS4) - Students in Wheat Ridge on Friday had a chance to talk to an astronaut on board the International Space Station.
Wheat Ridge High School is one of five different schools across the country that got to participate in conversations with astronauts through downlinks. Rep. Ed Perlmutter, a Democrat who represents Colorado's 7th Congressional District, is part of the Science Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics and wrote a letter of support to bring the event to Colorado.
Before students linked up with the space station, they had the chance to talk to a fomer astronaut in person. Lee "Bru" Archambault is a pilot who has flown two space shuttle missions and now works for Sierra Space Corporation in Louisville.
Archambault fielded a wide range of questions -- from the occasional one about aliens to his most exciting moments in space.
Of the 300 students at Friday's event, almost all had a hand raised at one point.
Then came the downlink from the space station. It was with astronaut Raja Chari, who is a graduate of the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He now serves as a commander of the NASA SpaceX crew that launched in November.
There were dozens of questions thrown his way. For instance, student Grant Debarnardi wanted to know what the most surprising thing was about being in space.
"The answer I got was that they were surprised by how much the social dynamic of it was important -- like, you're stuck on a space station with the same people for months at a time so you have to make sure you really get along with them," Debarnardi told CBS4.
This was the second time the school has gotten a chance to talk to an astronaut through an International Space Station downlink. The first was in 2006. It's the only school in the country to have had such an opportunity two different times.
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