Challenger Center to Do Live Link with the International Space Station

Richland One’s Challenger Learning Center will do a live amateur radio downlink with the astronauts orbiting the Earth on the International Space Station on Thursday, October 16 at 12:30 p.m. The event also will be broadcast live on the national Challenger Center website: www.challenger.org.

During the NASA broadcast, five Richland One students, along with others from around the globe, will have the opportunity to talk and ask questions of Richard Garriott as he orbits the Earth on the Space Station. Garriott, the son of NASA’s Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott, will be the next civilian to fly into space.

Richland One students selected to ask questions are Brittany Cannon (Hand Middle School), Jane Cokley (W.A. Perry Middle School), Goler Collins IV (Horrell Hill Elementary School), Tyberius Garner (W.A. Perry Middle School) and Patrick Wright (Brockman Elementary School).

"This is an awesome educational opportunity for our students to communicate with Mr. Garriott on the International Space Station," said Thelma Clavon, director of the Richland One Challenger Center. "We invite individuals from across the state of South Carolina to join us for the live broadcast at www.challenger.org."

Richland One is home to South Carolina’s only Challenger Center for Space Science Education. The Centers were founded in 1986 by the families of the astronauts of the Space Shuttle Challenger 51-L mission and are dedicated to the educational spirit of that mission. Challenger Learning Center programs continue the crew's mission of engaging teachers and students in science, mathematics, engineering and technology.