MIT students will chat live with astronaut on International Space Station – The Boston Globe

Astronaut Jack Fischer, a crew members on the International Space Station, waved prior to the launch of the Soyuz MS-04 spacecraft at the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in April.

Educators from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are expanding their classroom space this week.

On Wednesday, graduate and undergraduate students from the Cambridge schools department of Aeronautics and Astronautics will get the chance to participate in a live videochat with NASA astronaut Jack Fischer, an MIT alumnus who is currently aboard the International Space Station, 220 miles above the earth.

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The question-and-answer session between students, faculty, and Fischer marks somewhat of a rare occasion for those interested in life as an astronaut. The last time MIT conducted such an interview was in 2011, when two MIT graduates, Greg Chamitoff and Mike Fincke, were aboard the ISS.

Its kind of an exciting opportunity, said William Litant, spokesman for the Aeronautics and Astronautics department. Its a good kind of community-building experience here, too.

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Litant said MIT has produced more astronauts than any other school in the country besides the Military Academies. He said it seems that at any given moment theres a former or current astronaut strolling through the schools campus. Four of the astronauts who walked on the moon got their degrees from MIT, according to NASA officials.

This is where astronauts tend to visit, he said. No matter where you turn, you see an astronaut.

Fischer, Wednesdays visitor, wont be grounded when he speaks to students. He will field questions from them as he floats inside the space station, taking a break from his day-to-day duties as an outer space explorer.

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Fischer, who received a masters degree in aerospace engineering from MIT in 1998, is part of the Expedition 51/52 crew that launched to the space station in April, according to NASA.

The roughly 20-minute conversation will be streamed live on NASA TV, so those who arent part of the classroom environment can still get a feel for what its like to be an astronaut.

Litant said the questions from students tend to range from What is it like sleeping in space? to What do you do to entertain yourself?

It really runs the gamut, from serious technical questions to real human-interest type stuff, he said. It adds to the enthusiasm that our students already have here.

In a statement, NASA officials said that by connecting students directly to astronauts, it provides unique, authentic experiences designed to enhance student learning.

The video call offers a real-time opportunity for aspiring young aerospace engineers to pose questions about living, working, and researching in space to an alumnus who is doing just that, officials said.

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MIT students will chat live with astronaut on International Space Station - The Boston Globe