Astronaut Jessica Meir will chat live with students from Caribou on Tuesday morning during an Earth-to-space call.
Meir, who grew up in Caribou, is the first Maine woman to travel to space and recently took part in the first all-female spacewalk. She was the 15th woman and 228th person to walk in space.
The phone call between Eastern Aroostook RSU 39 students and Meir will take place during a live event Tuesday morning at Caribou High School. Students in grades 3-12 will participate in the call and have been drawing inspiration from Meir’s accomplishments and setting academic and career goals in preparation for the call to the space station.
The public can watch the call live at 10:35 a.m. on NASA television and the agency’s website.
Excitement for the event is evident in Caribou, where the school district website prominently features a countdown to the live event.
Meir graduated from Caribou High School in 1995 and was later inducted into the school’s Hall of Fame with fellow alumna Sen. Susan Collins. In her senior yearbook, Meir wrote that her future plan was “to go for a spacewalk.”
Meir traveled to the International Space Station on Sept. 25 aboard a Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft. During her time in space, Meir and her crewmates will support about 250 research experiments that “broaden our knowledge of Earth, space, physical and biological sciences in ways that benefit our everyday lives,” according to NASA.
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