The district’s Career and Technical Education pre-engineering program students participated in a live group video call to Astronaut Don Pettit on Oct. 25. The event was hosted by the Columbia Space Initiative, a space science, engineering, and outreach club founded in 2015, at Columbia University.
Pettit, a veteran astronaut on his third long-term stay aboard the International Space Station, is known for his in-orbit “Saturday Morning” video series, where he conducts educational demonstrations that are only possible aboard the ISS.
Floral Park Memorial High School senior Ian Tallini was chosen to take part in the call. He spoke directly to the orbiting astronaut, asking about his favorite “Saturday Morning” science project. In response to Tallini’s question, Pettit discussed his latest experiment, looking “at the freezing front of ice,” utilizing a -95 ℃ freezer. He showed students an image of the ice crystals he grew that morning.
Former Astronaut Mike Massimino, the Earth-side coordinator of the live call, is a 1980 graduate of Sewanhaka’s H. Frank Carey High School. While at NASA, he flew on two Space Shuttle missions, took part in several spacewalks and helped upgrade the Hubble Space Telescope. He’s currently a professor of mechanical engineering at Columbia and serves as senior advisor of space programs at the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum.
