Your kid’s idea could fly! (Literally!)

I was involved in the Young Astronauts Program, Space Camp, and other NASA-related outreach programs growing up.  Exploring space has always been my driving passion and I am fortunate to have had the support from my family and my teachers to pursue that dream.

One of the reasons why I’m proud to be a part of the ISS National Laboratory Office team now is our education and outreach mission.  It’s important to me to help inspire America’s youth to reach for the stars, just as I was.  I’m excited that we’re actually sponsoring a national science competition, Kids In Micro-G!, in partnership with Disney and Pixar, where the selected experiment proposals will actually be done on the International Space Station by our astronauts.

Buzz on the ISS

If you have a child, grandchild, niece, nephew, godchild, or just a special kid you know in 5th through 8th grade, I encourage you to go to the website above and share this opportunity with them.  I know there are teachers who read this blog, so I especially challenge you to take the lead and help your students submit entries.

The premise is pretty simple.  Design a science experiment where the results in the microgravity environment of the International Space Station will be observably different than here on Earth.  You’ll have to do it from a list of on-orbit supplies and in no more than 10 minutes.

Buzz Lightyear watches Swedish fish “swim” in a ball of water on the ISS

I can’t wait to see all the creative proposals America’s teachers and youth are able to come up with.  You can guarantee that I’ll be sitting on console watching when the experiments are performed, too!  This is an amazing chance to be a part of something special.  Take it and have fun with it.