Media Advisory

NEW LONDON, Conn. — Students from five different elementary and high schools along the East Coast will have a rare opportunity to pose questions Thursday to an astronaut in orbit aboard the International Space Station.

About 500 students will watch a live video connection with the ISS as Mission Commander Dan Burbank answers their questions from 11:15-11:35 a.m. (EST).

The initiative, which is spearheaded by faculty members at the U.S. Coast Guard Academy, is designed to boost the awareness of and to encourage interest in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math(STEM). Expedition 30 is currently underway aboard the ISS with Burbank, a Tolland, Conn., native and Coast Guard Academy graduate and instructor. Burbank and most of his crew have been living and working on the station since Nov. 16, 2011.

Students competed for a chance to pose their questions to Commander Burbank, with teachers selecting which questions would be asked. The schools participating in the event are:

• Science & Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut in New London
• Friendship Academy of Engineering & Technology in Baltimore
• Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy High School in Atlanta
• Maritime and Science Technology Academy in Miami
• Maritime and Science Technology Academy in Key Biscayne, Fla., K-8 Center

The questions run the gamut from routine to complex. One student from Atlanta will ask how astronauts do laundry on the ISS.

A Miami student wants to know if the ISS is involved in the study of ice in the mesosphere research and if this research will help control climate change.

A student from New London wants to ask Burbank what the main influence in his Coast Guard career was that led him to want to be an astronaut, and another New London student wonders if they get any free time on the ISS and what they do to have fun?

Coast Guard Academy faculty and cadet mentors will be present at each location, and in Baltimore and Atlanta, they will be joined by college student mentors from Morgan State University and Spelman College who will be on hand to assist and encourage students to nurture interests in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.

Media wanting to cover the event should contact the following site coordinators:

New London (9th-12th grade, 80 participants)
Science & Technology Magnet High School of Southeastern Connecticut
490 Jefferson Ave., New London, CT 06320
Cmdr. Chip Hatfield (860) 373-8389

Baltimore (6th-12th grade, 130 participants)
The Friendship Academy of Engineering & Technology
2500 E. Northern Parkway, Baltimore, MD 21214
Capt. Jonathan Russell (860) 944-5519

Atlanta (9th-12th grade, 75 participants)
Coretta Scott King Young Women’s Leadership Academy High School
1190 Northwest Drive, Atlanta, GA 30318
Lt. Joe Benin (860) 857-5006

Miami (9th-12th grade, 120 participants)
Maritime and Science Technology Academy
3979 Rickenbacker Causeway, Miami, FL 33149
Lt. Cmdr. Jess Rozzi-Ochs (610) 207-6453

Key Biscayne K-8 Center (5th-8th grade, 70 participants)
Maritime and Science Technology Academy
150 W. McIntyre Str, Key Biscayne, FL 33149
Lt. Cmdr. Jess Rozzi-Ochs (610) 207-6453

To watch Burbank answer students' questions, tune in to NASA TV or view the live video feed at http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/nasatv/index.html Thursday at 11:15 a.m.

To learn more about Expedition 30 aboard the International Space Station, please visit http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/expeditions/expedition30/index.html

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