Live call from the ISS with European teachers and students
On 1 June teachers and students from France, Estonia and Austria spoke live for 20 minutes with French ESA astronaut Thomas Pesquet from the International Space Station.
The in-flight call was part of the “Sustaining Space: recycling resources”- themed events organised by three ESEROs connecting from CNES in Toulouse, the Tartu Observatory and the Vega observatory Haus der Natur in Salzburg.
Several teachers had the opportunity to ask Thomas questions about his mission and about recycling in space. Among the questions posed to Thomas were how water is recycled on the ISS and what research is being done in space involving plants. Thomas was also asked about future plans for alternative ways to travel and live in space, and whether looking down on Earth from the ISS changed his attitude towards sustainability.
"It was a unique opportunity to talk to the ISS, for me and my students. It is impressive how advanced our technology is, to be able to talk to a person in orbit travelling with the speed of 27600 km/h," remarked teacher Joachim Achinger from HTL Wels.
Tanel Liira, a physics teacher from Tamme Gymnasium, says "It was a very good motivational event for students. The presentations, together with an in-flight call with an astronaut, aroused the interest of some students in the field of space."
"He spoke very well, it's really nice to see a French astronaut leaving for the ISS and who speaks English so well, it was exceptional and magical," enthuses Camille, a secondary student at Barral high school in Castres. "He still has one of the most inaccessible jobs in the world," adds her friend Bénédicte. "I really liked how it floated, the weightlessness, seeing with my own eyes how it is in space and above all having its feelings", concludes Chanaëlle, a student at the college of Vielmur-sur-Agoût (Tarn).”
Watch a replay of the call here.
Before the in-flight call, European students and teachers connected live to attend space expert talks and guided activities which were part of the events organised by ESERO France, ESERO Estonia and ESERO Austria in their respective countries. These events had a big attendance, especially those online, at national level.
The in-flight call with Thomas Pesquet is part of a wide range of educational activities delivered by ESA and the European Space Education Resource Office (ESERO) project across Europe. Currently, there are ESEROs operating in 18 ESA Member States. ESA’s ESERO project is a collaboration between ESA, national space agencies and national and local educational partners.
The ESERO project is ESA's main way of supporting the primary and secondary education community in Europe. ESERO uses space related themes and the genuine fascination felt by young people for space to enhance school pupils’ literacy and competence in STEM-related subjects via activities that include national training for teachers and classroom resources tailored to national curricula. The ESERO project also highlights the associated applications from space and raises awareness of the wide range of career prospects in the space domain.