WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Students and educators from Stillwater Public Schools and pre-service teachers who are pursuing education degrees from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Okla., will speak with Expedition 34 Commander Kevin Ford aboard the International Space Station at 12:30 p.m. EST Friday, Nov. 30. Students will ask Ford questions about life, work and research aboard the orbiting laboratory during an even at the university.

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Media representatives are invited to attend. The conversation will be carried live on NASA Television.

To attend, journalists must contact Christy Lang at Christy.lang@okstate.edu or 405-744-8320. The event, themed Pioneers in Space: A New Frontier for STEM Careers will be held at Oklahoma State University Center for Research on STEM Teaching and Learning, which is located at 245 Willard Hall.

Prior to the event, educators will prepare students for the conversation with Commander Ford by incorporating NASA activities into the classroom, creating awareness about the International Space Station, and encouraging students to pursue careers in fields related to science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).  

NASA astronaut Kevin Ford and Russian cosmonauts Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin launched from Kazakhstan to the station on Oct. 23. The Nov. 30 in-flight education downlink is one in a series with educational organizations in the United States and abroad to improve STEM teaching and learning. It is an integral component of NASA's Teaching From Space education program, which promotes learning opportunities and builds partnerships with the education community using the unique environment of space and NASA's human spaceflight program. The exact time of the downlink could change.

For NASA TV downlink, schedule and streaming video information, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/ntv

For information about NASA's education programs, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/education

For information about the International Space Station, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/station

SOURCE NASA