On November 10, 2026, NASA will facilitate a live call from the International Space Station (ISS) featuring astronauts Jessica Watkins and Luke Delaney responding to prerecorded science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) questions from students in Florida. The event is hosted by Freedom Crossing Academy in St. Johns, Florida, and will stream live on NASA's Learn With NASA YouTube channel beginning at 10:40 a.m. EST.
The Q&A engages K-12 students and the local community, offering an interactive platform to explore space science topics directly with astronauts living and working in microgravity. The initiative aims to promote STEM education by connecting learners with the realities of space exploration and career opportunities in these fields.
Since the ISS has supported continuous human presence for over 26 years, it serves as a unique laboratory for scientific research unavailable on Earth. The station’s ongoing missions contribute to understanding human health in space, developing technologies for future exploration, and enabling commercial activities in low Earth orbit.
These educational downlink events underscore NASA’s commitment to outreach by making the science and challenges of long-duration spaceflight accessible. They complement broad research goals, including preparations for Artemis lunar missions and eventual crewed ventures to Mars.
The astronauts' responses will be prerecorded due to operational constraints aboard the ISS, but the live broadcast fosters real-time engagement through local facilitation and digital access, broadening the reach beyond just the participating school to a larger audience interested in space and technology.
Limitations include the absence of a live two-way conversation, which restricts the immediacy of interaction between the students and astronauts. Nonetheless, the carefully curated questions and astronaut answers provide authentic insights into life and work in space, making the session educational and inspirational.
Source & further reading
NASA Astronauts to Answer Questions from Florida Students ↗Source published 2026-11-05. This report was prepared with AI assistance from the linked primary-source material. Claims and limitations should be checked against the original announcement or research.