'Storytime in space' project attracts attention

 Mousetronaut and Mousetronaut Goes to Mars, written by former US astronaut Mark Kelly, are loaded into orbit along with other space-themed science children's books owned by ATK The "Cygnus" cargo spacecraft. The Cygnus cargo spacecraft lifted off from its Cape Canaveral, Florida launch site on December 3, 2015 on an Atlas V rocket after completing a pressurized cargo bay test, carrying approximately 4 tons of cargo sent to the International Space Station. As planned, the readings arrived at their destination three days later. Coincidentally, Mark's twin brother, Scott Kelly, has been on the ISS for a year since March 2015. There will be a chance to read a story written by his brother before he returns to Earth in March 2016.

The Rat Astronaut is an infectious picture book about the unusual experiences of a little mouse. It only wanted to travel to outer space, so it worked hard to prepare for everything like a bigger mouse. In the fierce competition, the little mouse stood out and finally got his wish and became an astronaut. In space, astronauts are busy with their respective tasks. Unexpectedly, the situation suddenly changed, and disaster struck. Only the smallest and flexible crew member like Little Mouse can turn the tide and turn the tide. The book vividly depicts the image of a little mouse full of perseverance and courage, showing that little people can do great things.

Rat Astronaut and Rat Astronaut to Mars are part of the Story Time From Space project. The Space Storytime program was launched on the International Space Station in 2014 and is organized by the Global Space Education Foundation and supported by the Center for the Advancement of Space Science, which manages the U.S. National Laboratory on the International Space Station. The project aims to provide school teachers and students with audio recordings and videos of astronauts reading children's books on the space station. In addition to the above two books, a series of 5 scientific expeditions created and published by astronomer and educator Jeffrey Bennett is also launched, telling the story of a dog named Max who visits the moon, Mars and Jupiter; Endeavours Long Journey, by John Danny Olivas, former astronaut of the Space Shuttle Endeavour, through a boy visiting the space shuttle on display at the California Science Center Experience, telling the history of the orbiter; Bennett's new book "I, Humanity" dedicated to "Storytime in Space"; "Engineer Rosie Revere" by Andrea Beatty Revere, Engineer) has become a New York Times Company bestseller; and The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm by Leval Boulton.

According to the implementation plan of the "Space Story Time" project of the Global Aerospace Education Foundation, astronauts will read stories to children in zero-gravity space and record videos of themselves reading books in front of the observation window of the dome module. In the first video produced by the "Space Story Time" project, NASA astronaut Mike Hopkins is seen floating in front of the cabin window of the International Space Station, pointing to an illustration and reading "Max To the Space Station". "I love reading, and I can't think of a better reading position than the dome cabin observation window, which is the big observation window for us to look down at the earth." Hopkins sighed, ""Max Goes to the Space Station" is an astronaut The first children's book read by a member of the crew, and the first in the 'Max the Puppy's Adventures in the Solar System series. The story is about how Max traveled to the International Space Station to start his journey, and you can see pictures of the International Space Station in the book."

"The 'Space Storytime Program is the perfect combination of education, perspective and inspiration,'" notes Bennett, author of the series. "When you see astronauts reading in space and looking down at Earth, kids think: 'Somebody really Having done that, maybe one day I can be one of them too. So it provides an excellent platform for education.”

In addition to Hopkins, astronaut Koichi Wakata of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) also started reading children's books. "'The space story time program is attractive to teenagers and provides them with an excellent opportunity to engage with science, technology, engineering and math, and to learn about the activities going on at the International Space Station." Former Endeavour astronaut Ollie "So far, three sets of videos of astronauts reading on the space station have been sent to the Space Storytime website for teachers and students to use," said Wass. Strong response. In addition to reading videos suitable for the tastes of young children, there is also a "big kid box" to provide science content suitable for older students. "According to the plan, we will have astronauts on the space station to perform scientific experiments related to the content of the reading materials." Patricia Treib, an educator who founded the "Space Story Time" project with astronaut Alvin Drew, said , "Our team has launched a collective funding campaign to support this very meaningful event."

The "Space Story Time" project team stated on the Kickstarter crowdfunding website that it will send more youth space science and technology books to the space station and carry out more scientific experiment demonstrations, but all this is inseparable from the strong support of the public and active fundraising payment. Founded in 2009, Kickstarter is a purely popular charity website in New York. Anyone can donate any amount of money to a project with no changeover fees. The website is committed to supporting and motivating all innovative activities, providing a communication and cooperation platform for both "creatives and ideas, but lack of funds" and "with funds, but also willing to donate to support good ideas", so that good ideas can be quickly spread for circulation. At the same time, gathering the funds and spiritual strength of everyone can make you more practical and courageous to implement your own good ideas. Statistics show that fundraising is going well, with more than 10% of the $35,000 goal in the first two weeks of the two-month campaign. In return, donors can receive "Story Time in Space" bookmarks, T-shirts and author-signed books of the same kind that have been on the space station.

"The space station is a real place that orbits above our planet, built and operated by thousands of people around the world," Hopkins said in the video. "I hope the space station reading video will not only give you Learn more about space and the International Space Station, and more importantly, encourage you to think globally, work for global progress, and build a better future for all of us."

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The "Space Age" of the Twins

Mark Kelly was born in Orange, New Jersey, USA in February 1964. He received a bachelor's degree in marine engineering from the US Merchant Marine Academy and a master's degree in aeronautical engineering from the US Naval Graduate School in 1986 and 1994, respectively. In the late 1980s, Mark and his younger brother Scott both joined the Army as Navy pilots, both serving on aircraft carriers and later as test pilots. In April 1996, the brothers were selected from a field of 3,500 people as one of 35 astronaut candidates selected by NASA. Mark and Scott put on the orange space shuttle astronaut pressurized suits, entered the same astronaut training class, received various hard training, and finally became official astronauts of NASA, and started their "space age". . Since 1999, the brothers have flown a total of seven space missions, but they have never been to space at the same time.

Mark has performed 4 space missions and is a legendary American hero. In 2001, he served as the pilot of the space shuttle Endeavour, and in 2006, he became the commander of the space shuttle Discovery, with a total spaceflight time of 54 days. Scott spent 159 days on the International Space Station from November 2010 to March the following year, for a total of 180 days. Since Mark's wife was seriously injured in a shooting incident, he had to make up his mind to say goodbye to military life and aerospace career and concentrate on taking care of his wife. After retiring from NASA, he became a consultant to SpaceX, a private American space transportation company, but never gave up his dream of returning to space. In March 2015, the twin brothers Mark and Scott joined forces to participate in an equal number of scientific experiments and tests, the latest chapter in a journey of half a century.

On March 7, 2015, the Russian space agency launched the manned spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-16M" with the "Soyuz-FG" carrier rocket at the Baikonur launch site in Kazakhstan to transport three astronauts to the International Space Station. . Scott will join Russian cosmonauts Gennady Padalka and Mikhail Kornyenko on a one-year mission on the space station to study the possible effects of long-term spaceflight on the human body, while Mark stayed on the ground for comparison.

The principle behind the experiment goes back to Einstein's famous "twin paradox." The simple meaning of this thought experiment is: what if there were a pair of twin brothers, and one of them took a rocket for a high-speed interstellar flight, while the other stayed on Earth. When the former returns to Earth, he will find himself much younger than his brother - which sounds very eerie, but it is true. According to the test plan, Scott will orbit the earth in space at a speed of 27,000 kilometers per hour. NASA will conduct detailed genetic, biochemical, visual and cognitive studies of the twins during this period, and the data obtained will be used to confirm whether future long-duration missions to asteroids to Mars There are ways to further reduce risk.

Endeavour's relocation journey

The Space Shuttle Endeavour is a space shuttle orbiter built by NASA in 1991, named after the 18th-century British explorer Thomas Cook's research ship to replace the 1986 "Destroyed in an explosion" Challenger space shuttle. Unlike several previous space shuttles, Endeavour was given more technological experimentation, employing many new technologies to expand its capabilities. In addition to improved electronics, a parachute has been added to the tail to reduce the distance it can glide on the runway after landing.

Endeavour made its maiden flight on May 7, 1992, on mission STS-49. On May 16, 2011, it was successfully launched from the Kennedy Space Center, beginning the last space mission of its 19-year career. It has previously recorded 25 flights, spent 280 days and 9 hours in space, orbited the Earth 4,429 times, and traveled a total of 103,149,636 miles.

On September 21, 2012, Endeavour arrived at Los Angeles International Airport for its final flight in the air. At about 2:00 a.m. on October 12, a special trailer equipped with 160 wheels carried the "Endeavour" slowly out of the Los Angeles International Airport hangar, starting a two-day relocation trip with a total length of 19 kilometers. The destination is it The final home of the California Science Center. When passing through the streets of Los Angeles, thousands of citizens stopped to watch and bid farewell to the space shuttle that has made great achievements. "It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see the space shuttle pass through the street in front of my door," recalls Los Angeles resident Perry. "My colleagues and I were moved to tears last month when we saw the 'Endeavour' low-flying over Los Angeles. ."

Ken Philip, director of the aerospace department at the California Science Center, said that after a special pavilion was completed in 2017, Endeavour will "stand" to meet the audience. In addition to the "Endeavour", several other retired space shuttles in the United States have already ended up: "Discovery" "settled" at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. in 2012; the prototype "Enterprise" is displayed at the Intrepid Sea and Air Museum in New York City ; "Atlantis" belongs to the Kennedy Space Center.