NASA Digest, Vol 57, Issue 12

	February 16, 2018  MEDIA ADVISORY M18-033 Minnesota Students to Speak with NASA Astronauts on Space Station   Official portrait of Expedition 54 astronaut Mark Vande Hei Credits: NASA Students in central Minnesota will speak with NASA astronauts living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 1:35 p.m. EST Tuesday, Feb. 20. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. The event is being hosted by the College of Saint Benedict (CSB), in St. Joseph, Minnesota, and Saint John's University (SJU), located in nearby Collegeville, Minnesota. Students from five area middle and high schools will travel to SJU for the call to Expedition 54 astronauts Mark Vande Hei and Scott Tingle aboard the space station, posing questions about life aboard the orbital outpost, NASA's deep space exploration plans, and doing science in space. Vande Hei, an SJU alumnus, arrived at the space station on Sept.12 and will return to Earth later this month. Tingle arrived Dec.19 and is scheduled to return to Earth in June. Students across the participating school districts have been preparing for the event by studying the space station, astronaut biographies, and incorporating rockets and space station-focused physics lessons into the curriculum, as well as hosting an Engineering Design Competition. About 200 people are expected to be on-site at the university during the downlink. Media interested in attending the event should contact Michael Hemmesch via email at             mhemmesch@csbsju.edu or phone at 320-363-2595. CSB & SJU will host the event at 2850 Abbey Plaza in Collegeville. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in STEM. This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of NASA's Year of Education on Station, which provides extensive space station-related resources and opportunities to students and educators. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with the Mission Control Center on Earth 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). Follow the astronauts on social media: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts/ See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at:  https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation/
	Press Contacts Sean Potter Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1536 sean.potter@nasa.gov Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov

	February 16, 2018  MEDIA ADVISORY M18-034 New Mexico Students to Speak with NASA Astronaut on Space Station   jsc2017e129520 (April 7, 2017) --- Astronaut and Expedition 54-55 Flight Engineer Scott Tingle of NASA. Students from six schools in Alamogordo, New Mexico, will speak with a NASA astronaut living, working and doing research aboard the International Space Station at 11 a.m. EST Wednesday, Feb. 21. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website. Middle and high school students will travel to Alamogordo High School for the call to Expedition 54 astronaut Scott Tingle aboard the space station, posing questions about life aboard the orbital outpost, NASA's deep space exploration plans, and doing science in space. Tingle arrived Dec.19 and is scheduled to return to Earth in June. The New Mexico Museum of Space History (NMMSH) has collaborated with the Alamogordo Public School and the New Mexico School for the Blind and Visually Impaired for this event. NMMSH is a state museum chartered to educate the people of New Mexico and visitors in the history, science and technology of space.  Students have been preparing for the event by forming teams to design and build simple apparatuses or experiments involving fluid management, combustion, or crystal growth to compare performance in a 1g vs simulated microgravity environment. Some 1,500 students and teachers are expected to be on-site at Alamogordo High School during the downlink with 4,000 more watching virtually in school auditoriums throughout Alamogordo Public Schools. Media interested in attending the event should contact Cathy Harper via email at cathy.harper@state.nm.us or phone at (575) 437-2840. NMMSH will host the event at Alamogordo High School, 103 Cuba Avenue in Alamogordo.    Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning, performance and interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of NASA's Year of Education on Station, which provides extensive space station-related resources and opportunities to students and educators. Astronauts living in space on the orbiting laboratory communicate with the Mission Control Center on Earth 24 hours a day through the Space Network's Tracking and Data Relay Satellites (TDRS). Follow the astronauts on social media: https://www.twitter.com/NASA_astronauts/ See videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at:  https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation/
	Press Contacts Sean Potter Headquarters, Washington 202-358-1600 sean.potter@nasa.gov Kelly Humphries Johnson Space Center, Houston 281-483-5111 kelly.o.humphries@nasa.gov