Visitors to the Discovery Center can see an astronaut answer questions asked by local kids during a 20-minute live link to the International Space Station on Thursday.
From 2:35 to 2:55 p.m., astronaut Ricky Arnold will answer questions, which were previously submitted by children enrolled in various programs at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center and were vetted by NASA.
“It is a tight window and we have just enough questions to fill that window,” said Sarah Hoffschwelle, director of education at the Concord facility. More questions cannot be taken from the audience during the presentation.
The session will be shown on NASA TV, the cable channel run by the nation’s space agency.
Before the link, the Discovery Center will give a presentation about the ISS and human spaceflight, starting at 2 p.m. The event will be moderated by Dave Brooks, who writes the Granite Geek column for the Monitor.
The event is included with general admission to the Discovery Center. It is the center’s first downlink from space since 1998.
Before becoming a NASA astronaut, Arnold worked in marine sciences – including a stint aboard a sail training/oceanographic vessel headquartered in Woods Hole, Mass. – and as a teacher. This is his second trip to the space station; his previous trip delivered the final set of solar array wings to the station. During that trip, he spent 12 hours spacewalking outside the space station as part of the installation work.
For more information on the downlink event at the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center, visit starhop.com/current-and-upcoming-programs.