14 DAY TRIAL // The Commander of Expedition 29 aboard the International Space Station (ISS), NASA astronaut Mike Fossum, uses the chance this interview gave him to explain a little bit about life several hundred miles above the planet's surface, and how science is conducted there.
He was speaking with students who gathered at the Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology Conference, which was organized by and held at the University of Texas-Pan American, in Edinburgh, Texas. The interview took place on September 27.
Astronauts aboard the station carry out such educational events fairly often, talking especially to students and young children. One of the main goals of doing so is to boost interest in science, math and technology (STEM) among the younger generations.
Expedition 29 should end in November 2011. Fossum, ISS flight engineer Satoshi Furukawa of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) and Russian Federal Space Agency cosmonaut Sergei Volkov should return to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-02M space capsule.