Watch a Live Q & A Session From the Space Station

Many of our current DIY Podcast modules feature astronauts on the International Space Station. To see firsthand what goes on there and to hear student questions to the crew, watch a live downlink.

Four crew members float through the space station in four different directions.
Expedition 28 flight engineer Ron Garan and other crew members
float through the International Space Station.

Tune in to NASA TV Monday, Aug. 29, at 12:35 p.m. CDT as the Museum of Flight hosts a live question and answer session between students and astronauts Ron Garan, Mike Fossum and Satoshi Furukawa. The museum currently offers a variety of activities that explore science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, and the space program. The museum seeks to use the downlink to bring these subjects alive and inspire the audience to pursue a variety of STEM activities. Students from Aviation High School, Puyallup High School, Civil Air Patrol, and Liberty High School will take part in this unique opportunity.

NASA TV

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It IS Rocket Science

Our newest Do-It-Yourself Podcast topic module features a launch vehicle systems analyst, aka rocket scientist. Tristan Curry explains the concepts behind launching a rocket. Besides explaining the importance of the basic parts of a rocket, she also explains scientific principles in relation to a rocket. Your students can incorporate clips of Curry explaining Newton’s laws, gravity, thrust and safety. Education specialist Fred Kepner also explains how to find the center of gravity and center of pressure on a rocket and why those points are important to a rocket’s stability.

Although NASA applies these science concepts in building and launching rockets, the same principles apply to model rockets.

Rocket ScienceThe module includes 34 video clips and 10 audio clips. The video clips include footage from space shuttle, Atlas V, and Delta II launches and animations. We’ve also included historical footage of the Saturn V, German rocket launches from the 1940s, and newsreel footage of workers assembling Redstone missiles.

Students can shoot video of themselves building a rocket to mix with the rocket scientist explaining the science.

The Rocket Science module also includes links to images and other resources to support student creativity in building a podcast.

Rocket Science module

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