Students At Texas School 'Chat It Up' With Space Station Astronauts
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FORT WORTH (CBSDFW.COM) - It was truly an out of this world experience for students at Fort Worth's Daggett Montessori School Friday morning.
Children at the Kindergarten through 8th grade school had the chance to take part in a very special Q&A with an astronaut aboard the International Space Station.
Via amateur, or ham, radio, 10 kids got to ask questions to astronaut Kjell Lindgren. Since the International Space Station rotates around Earth every hour and a half, the kids were only in radio range for about eight minutes.
Seventh grader Claire Dominguez asked, "If someone has a critical medical emergency, such as appendicitis, what would you do?" Lindgren responded, "We have limited medical supplies and equipment up here. If somebody was in really critical condition we would return them to the earth."
The youngster later said she would never forget the experience. "I was so nervous. I was like overcome with emotion."
The question posed by 4th grader Ava Stubblefield was more science oriented. She asked, "What is your experiment to go on the mission and what did you learn from it?" Lindgren said one experiment that stood out for him was one where they grew lettuce. "Just getting to see this green, living thing in the space station… to grow it up to the point where we were able to harvest it and eat it."
Keith Pugh was at the helm, making the amateur radio communication possible. "It's exciting for me to see the reactions of the kids," he said.
Students like Lyra Pfeiffer were among those dreaming of the stars. She asked Dr. Lindgren, "At what age did you decide to become an astronaut and what inspired you to do so?" His answer included many things that any student could use for inspiration. "I wanted to be an astronaut for as long as I can remember," he explained. "And I think that it had to do with reading, watching movies, and also growing up in a family where my dad was in the Air Force and kind of growing up around airplanes and those sorts of things."
Students had been planning for the deep space talkback for some time, taking six weeks to develop their questions. A panel of teachers and staff went over the list and selected the questions that were asked Friday morning.
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