WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Students from the Weslaco Independent School District in Weslaco, Texas, will speak with a NASA astronaut currently living and working aboard the International Space Station at 12:05 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 9. The 20-minute, Earth-to-space call will air live on NASA Television and the agency's website.

Expedition 50 Flight Engineer Peggy Whitson will answer questions from students assembled in Weslaco ISD's Performing Arts Center. More than 800 students in third through fifth grade, as well as the Weslaco East High School Astronomy Club, will be in the audience.

Media interested in covering the event should contact the Weslaco ISD Public Information Department at 956-969-6505. The Performing Arts Center is at 506 East 6th St. in Weslaco.

Whitson launched to the space station on Nov.17, 2016, and is scheduled to return to Earth this spring.

This in-flight education downlink is an integral component of the NASA Office of Education's efforts to improve science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) teaching and learning in the United States. Linking students directly to astronauts aboard the space station through the agency Office of Education's STEM on Station activity provides authentic, live experiences in space exploration, space study and the scientific components of space travel, while introducing the possibilities of life in space.

Get NASA TV streaming video, schedules and downlink information at:

http://www.nasa.gov/nasatv

Learn about videos and lesson plans highlighting research on the International Space Station at:

http://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/texas-students-to-speak-to-nasa-astronaut-on-international-space-station-300403530.html

SOURCE NASA

http://www.nasa.gov

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Texas Students to Speak to NASA Astronaut on International Space Station - PR Newswire (press release)