'Can you see storms from space?' Wilson County's Southside students go live with NASA

Andy Humbles
The Tennessean

"Can you see storms from space?"

"How do you exercise without floating away?"

"What do you do with your trash?"

These were among 20 rapid-fire questions students of Wilson County's K-8 Southside Elementary School got to ask astronauts  aboard the International Space Station.

Standing next to teacher Leesa Hubbard, Southside Elementary student Kassie Martel reads a question to astronauts aboard the International Space Station in a live chat Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.

The 20-minute question-and-answer period with American astronauts Commander Randy Bresnik and Mark Vande Hei provided students answers about managing life without gravity and what astronauts do on the space station.

"I think it's valuable because maybe now there is going to be more people that want to be interactive with the NASA program," said seventh-grader Samantha Bennett, one of the students selected to ask a question.

Southside teacher Leesa Hubbard wrote the proposal for Southside to participate in the live chat with the astronauts last May. Southside's student body was brought to Wilson Central High School for the "downlink" meeting.

Standing next to teacher Leesa Hubbard, Southside Elementary student Samantha Bennett reads a question to astronauts aboard the International Space Station in a live chat Monday, Nov. 20, 2017.

Students prepared for the chat with daily trivia and videos of life in space along with online research and biographies on the three American astronauts on the Expedition 53 station — Bresnik, Vande Hei and Joe Acaba.

Hubbard — a facilitator for the NASA Educational Workshops at Marshall Flight Center from 1999 to 2002 and an Einstein fellow who worked with NASA's Educator Astronaut Program in 2002-03 — whittled down questions to about 50 and then NASA picked the final 20.

"How they use Velcro and bungee cords" impressed eighth-grader Carson Marks. The importance of exercise because of the impact no gravity has on the body and creative ways astronauts eat and stay hydrated also were of interest to students.

Free time, returning to Earth, experiments and advice to future astronauts were discussed during the live chat as well.

"I hope our students will become excited about science, technology, engineering and mathematics," Hubbard said. "I hope they see all the potential ways they can use these skills in future careers."

Vande Hei has been on the space station since Sept. 12 and will return to Earth in February. It’s his first space mission.

Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on Twitter @AndyHumbles.