Japanese fifth-and sixth-grade students will have the opportunity to have a dialogue with the Expedition 8 crew of the International Space Station during an educational television downlink Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. EST.
The Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), NASA and the Nankai Broadcasting Corporation (RNB) in Matsuyama City, Japan, will hold the program allowing approximately 500 students to participate. Students will have the opportunity to ask the Expedition 8 crew about science and the Space Station.
The program, part of the Japan’s National Ministry of Education and Science, “Science Loving Plan,” focuses on the goal to inspire students’ interest in science. The mottos of the program, created to emphasize the importance and exciting elements of science, are “dreams and hopes” and “courage and vitality.”
The International Space Station downlink is one in a series with national and international educational organizations. The series is an integral component of NASA’s Teaching from Space Program. The Teaching from Space Program enables educational opportunities using the unique environment of human space flight. The program builds partnerships with the education community to create unique learning opportunities through the use of NASA research and educational technology.
“NASA is grateful for the opportunity to engage young people from around the world in educational opportunities such as the International Space Station in-flight program,” said Debbie Brown Biggs, Acting Manager of NASA’s Education Flight Projects Office, NASA Headquarters, Washington. “Perhaps through this kind of event, we can get young people thinking about how science and technology transcend national borders. It is our students of today who will lead the way in the scientific endeavors of tomorrow,” she said.
The downlink will be broadcast live on NASA TV and shown on tape in Japan by RNB. NASA Television is available on AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical, and audio is monaural at 6.80 MHz.
For information about NASA Education programs on the Internet, visit:
http://education.nasa.gov
For more information about JAXA on the Internet, visit:
http://www.jaxa.jp/index_e.html