Jeffco students to interview NASA astronaut stationed on ISS

FILE – This July 19, 2011 photo of the International Space Station was taken from the space shuttle Atlantis. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020, NASA said that the two Russians and one American on board were awakened late Monday to hurriedly seal hatches between compartments and search for the ongoing leak, which appeared to be getting worse. It was the third time in just over a month that the crew had to isolate themselves on the Russian side, in an attempt to find the growing leak. (NASA via AP)

by: Nick Wills

Posted: Feb 16, 2022 / 10:32 PM MST

Updated: Feb 16, 2022 / 10:32 PM MST

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. (KDVR) — Students out in Jefferson County will get the chance to send their interstellar questions into space this week where an International Space Station-based astronaut will answer them live.

According to NASA, ninth- through 12th-graders at Wheat Ridge High School and Jefferson County Public schools will get the chance to ask NASA astronaut Raja Chari anything they want when they conduct an Earth-to-space call on this coming Friday, Feb. 18, at 12:35 p.m. local time.

This event is part of the program that aims to push children, interested in aerospace, toward careers in science, math, engineering and mathematics and is expected to last around 30 minutes.

If you are a teacher or school administrator interested in getting your students involved in NASA’s Next Generation of Explorers program, engagement opportunities are available on their educator’s page.

For anyone interested in watching the interview, which will consist of pre-recorded questions from students in the district and live answers from Chari, you can go visit NASA’s website, or you can simply view it in their app.

If you are unable to catch this week’s interview, then you can watch the next in-flight education downlink on March 2, when students from Cleveland, Ohio will get their chance to ask questions of the professional space folk orbiting the earth in the ISS.