ASU Prep students reach into Earth’s orbit to speak with the International Space Station

PHOENIX — Students at ASU Preparatory Academy took on the role of mission control Thursday, speaking with a NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station as the culmination of a yearlong unit on space.

Kindergarten through sixth-grade students spoke with astronaut Chris Williams, a flight engineer for Expedition 74.

Williams is about five months into an eight-month mission aboard the space station, where he is conducting research related to biotechnology and cancer treatments.

What questions did students ask the astronaut aboard the International Space Station?

Students asked Williams about his daily exercise routine, what he would do if his mission were extended and how living in space has changed the way he views Earth.

“Every time I look out the window of the space station, I look for something different,” Williams said. “Sometimes it’s night and I look for the sparkling lights of the cities down below, or sometimes it’s daytime and I look for places on the planet that I can recognize. Everywhere on our planet looks so beautiful.”

ASU Prep STEM specialist Danielle Houseman said she applied a year ago for the chance to connect with the space station, and the event marked the culmination of the students’ yearlong study of space.

“This is why we’ve been learning what we’ve been learning,” Houseman said. “This is the part where students really can get that spark and feel that this really means something. It’s a meaningful activity. It’s something that they’re a part of and that they could be a part of in their future.”

How did students feel after talk with astronaut on International Space Station?

The students have been studying the ISS and other NASA missions in preparation for the event, including the Artemis II lunar flyby.

Cailena, a sixth grader who spoke with Williams, said the experience taught her that big goals can feel possible.

“We can literally do anything,” she said. “We can talk from Earth to space when they’re in the ISS. I’ve also learned that if you want to do something, you just have to try and do it.”

Fifth grader Molly asked Williams about the possibility of his mission being extended.

“When I heard him first speak, my heart started pounding and I was so happy,” she said. “Because we’ve been at this for a year now. It’s been a really long mountain to climb for all of the people doing this for us.”

NASA had to plan the communication down to the minute, tracking when the space station would pass over Arizona during school hours before scheduling the event.

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