Press Release
Local Students Taking on the Plant the Moon Challenge to Hear from a NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station
Students participating in the Plant the Moon Challenge (PTMC) will have an opportunity to connect to an astronaut aboard the International Space Station. The Earth-to-space call will air live 1:05-1:25 p.m. ET., Tuesday, January 9, on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.
NASA astronaut Loral O’Hara will answer prerecorded questions from students from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, West Virginia, Florida, and Puerto Rico. The event, hosted by the Virginia Space Grant Consortium, will include participants from middle and high schools in all six locations. Students will have the opportunity to attend space-related presentations, participate in hands-on activities, and attend the event.
Media interested in covering the event should contact Donna Mumpower @[email protected] or
276-591-9073.
The International Space Station Downlink is an opportunity for students and teachers to learn first-hand about living and working in space, what life is like for an astronaut in microgravity, and how to translate the research happening in space into their everyday lives, PTMC projects, and classrooms.
Virginia Middle School is participating in the PTMC through a partnership with six Space Grant Consortia. The partnership is a NASA-funded regional project to expand the reach of the challenge to underserved and underrepresented STEM students in the six partnering states:
The NASA Space Grant Regional Expansion Project builds on the Plant the Moon Challenge by providing additional support to educators, free lunar regolith simulant kits, teacher stipends, enhancement activities, special awards, and expanded educator professional development. The project expects to engage more than 13,000 students in PTMC over the next three years.
The Plant the Moon Challenge is a program of the Institute for Competition Sciences.
All students, teachers, parents, administrators, community leaders, and media from Bristol, VA and surrounding areas are invited to attend the event.
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Bristol Virginia Middle School special education class is taking on the Plant the moon challenge and will hear from NASA Astronaut Aboard Space Station. January 9th, 2024 at 1:05pm. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students. I wanted to share the press release with everyone. Thank you to everyone who has encouraged us and supported our class last year. We look forward to an even better showing this year.
Donna Mumpower
Special Education Teacher
Virginia Middle School