NASA Videoconference

Our college hosted a wonderful videoconference experience today for 45 local 6th grade students who attend Dunbar Science Academy in Lubbock ISD. We connected with Tom Benson of NASA Education’s Digital Learning Network in Cleveland, Ohio, for the History of Humans in Space Videoconference. This usually lasts 45 minutes, but ours lasted an hour because of all the great questions the students asked! The PowerPoint of images on their website for this videoconference is really excellent, it has over 80 photos from space history.

The students had so many fantastic questions! NASA has 12 centers like the one in Cleveland, and more are doing videoconference connections all the time. Learn more on the NASA Education Digital Learning Network website. There is no charge for these videoconference connections. I learned a lot of things myself! These included:

A story about an astronaut named Gene who got his facemask all fogged over and then frozen on the Gemini 9 mission. He had to turn and face the sun so the frozen condensation would melt out of the inside of his mask so he could see again and work in space. We almost lost him.
During one of the Apollo space missions, the astronauts setup a laserbeam reflector and scientists in France shot a laser that hit the reflector and bounced back to earth, proving the astronauts were there and more accurately measuring the distance between the earth and the moon.
Moon dirt is like talcum powder: it sticks to everything and is almost impossible to get off of clothing.
The Russians had plans to land on the moon and built a huge M-1 rocket for that purpose. The thrust was provided with over 30 rocket engines. They launched multiple times but each time the rocket blew up. So they scuttled their plans for a moon landing and instead focused on a space station.

We had students in another videoconference room but had some mic problems in there, so student questions were instant messaged to me and I relayed them to Tom. Here were some of the questions the students came up with that Tom fielded:

2:28:56 PM : how do they listen to radios
2:30:14 PM : what would you say was their best mission
2:31:46 PM : in a year how much calcium does your body lose in space
2:33:34 PM : does it hurt u if u dont do exercise in space when u come back to earth.
2:35:31 PM : what do u eat in space
2:36:33 PM : if u take off ur helmet and suit in space do u die
2:36:46 PM : who was the last man in space
2:38:11 PM : is the U.S. working on its own independent space station
2:38:49 PM : does the food stay warm by itself in space
2:39:17 PM : what is the limit of days u can stay in space
2:40:27 PM : how much weight can they have in space shuttle
2:41:01 PM : is there a weight limit on the astronauts
2:41:54 PM : do u ever get lonley in space
2:42:36 PM : how do they dispose their waste in the shuttle
2:42:59 PM : when they sleep can they twist and turn
2:46:14 PM : r they going to send a man to pluto
2:48:13 PM : can we play musical instruments in space and hear them
2:52:28 PM : in years to come can people live on mars
2:53:16 PM : do the atronaughts wear the same clothes over and over
2:55:57 PM : how long does it take for the space shuttle to come back to earth

What fun this was! These types of interactive videoconferences are EXACTLY the types of technology uses we need to be seeing MORE of in schools! This is constructive use of disruptive technology in action! Thanks NASA and Tom Benson!

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