Students Speak with Cosmonauts Aboard the International Space Station and in Person!

Universidad Tecnologica Equinoccial (UTE) in Quito.

Cosmonaut F.N. Yurchikhin.

Student reflections of the day’s events, which included speaking live with cosmonauts aboard the Russian portion of the ISS, as well as speaking with cosmonauts in person!    
 

•    (I.E.) When we went to see the conference on the cosmonauts I realized how much the political world affects all other projects. I learned that the ISS probably travels 50 times faster than a plane…I also learned that the next space cosmonaut team has a girl in it, which is super cool. GIRL POWER!!!!
• (A.N.) One of the things that interested me the most was the part of the history of the ISS. It was pretty amazing how it has improved since they started with that “project”. One thing I didn’t understand is how were the two first pieces of the ISS put together if it was going that fast (17,500 mph)? It was an awesome trip. 
•     (I.M.) It was so cool to go there that there are no ways of describing the moment. I could tell you that it was cool, exiting, fun, and energetic, and it was all of those, but there are no words to actually describe how I felt exactly at the moment. The coolest and most understandable part of all the conference was probably when the cosmonauts spoke to us. The answers to the questions where kind of tricky but really intriguing. One thing I found interesting was that the Americans and the Russians built the ISS together, even if they were enemies in the 1960’s. 
•       (J.M.) It was a pleasure to be there because it helped me see how much the world has advance in technology. I learned that even though we are all different, science gets as all together. An example is when Neil Armstrong said “A small step for a man and a big step for humanity” and he could have said a small step for a man and a “big step for America” but he was modest and he did not.  
•     (J.F.P) It is an amazing opportunity to talk to an actual cosmonaut. I find it fascinating that I could communicate with someone so far away from myself, and the literal rest of the world, for that matter. 
•       (I.L) I am so proud of my country, Ecuador, because the technology here is starting to advance; we are able to talk to the IUSS, make our Ecuadorian satellites and more people in this country are starting to get interested in space and technology.