INDIANAPOLIS — Kids at the Children's Museum of Indianapolis got the chance to chat with astronauts on the International Space Station.
NASA astronaut Dr. Kjell Lindgren is commander of the NASA SpaceX Crew-4 mission. He is focused on studying changes in the immune system associated with age. But he took some time Tuesday to have fun chatting with some young Hoosiers.
One student named Kenlei asked Lindgren how the astronauts communicate with their friends and family.
"Kenlei, great question," Lindgren replied. "Back 25 years ago, the only way astronauts could talk with their families back on the ground was with amateur radio – with a ham radio. These days, we have a telephone system, voice over internet protocol, where I'm able to dial a cell phone through my laptop computer and I'm able to talk...call someone on their cell phone. It's absolutely amazing."
On the ISS, astronauts test technologies, perform science experiments and develop the skills needed to explore farther from Earth.
The Children's Museum of Indianapolis has an exhibit on all of this, called "Beyond Spaceship Earth." The museum hopes that exhibit and conversations like the one Tuesday inspire the next generation of space lovers.
"The kids that were participating today, those are the kids that are going to be our future astronauts and engineers and we want them to get excited about space and get excited about STEM," said Becky Wolfe with the Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
Lindgren and NASA SpaceX Crew-4 arrived on the International Space Station in April.