Latest news with #AnneMcClain
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Spokane's own astronaut Anne McClain answers kids' burning questions aboard the ISS in live video chat with 1,300 students, 'You can do anything from Spokane'
May 27—Spokane astronaut Anne McClain's digital homecoming Tuesday kicked off with a fervor. McClain's return to her alma mater Gonzaga Preparatory School had more than a few similarities to the U.S. Army colonel's launch to the International Space Station as a member of NASA's SPACEX Crew-10 mission just a few months ago. Anticipation clung in the air of the private school's gymnasium as the countdown ticked away to the drumming of the feet of giddy children — a roar that sounded almost like a Falcon 9 rocket taking off. The Mobius Discovery Center hosted more than 1,300 elementary and middle school students for a "downlink" with McClain, a rare opportunity to chat via satellite with an ISS crew member. Students asked Spokane's space traveler about her background and training, lessons she learned in orbit and her day to day aboard the floating laboratory, then heard McClain answer in real time while orbiting the Earth at speeds close to 18,000 mph. "I have no doubt that some of you are going to come back to Spokane and you're going to tell the next generation of kids what you went and did," McClain told her rapt audience. "Maybe it's going to be an astronaut also, but maybe it's going to be that cool dream that's living inside of your heart." The 1997 G-Prep graduate fielded around a dozen questions in the 20-minute call from curious kids in the Spokane area from both private and public schools, all sardined inside the gym. Chloe Bockelie, a Shadle Park High School freshman, asked McClain what she's learned from Crew-10 that she wished she knew on her first voyage to the ISS. McClain talked about her nerves the first time she launched into space in 2019 and how the second time around, she feels much more self-assured. This confidence she only developed because she pushed herself the first time, she said. "The magic doesn't happen inside your comfort zone; you gotta scare yourself a little bit," McClain said. "To me, that's a really good sign that you're pushing yourself beyond your boundaries, and that's how you achieve amazing things." Nolan, a fifth-grader from Skyline Elementary School, asked McClain how she and her crewmates pass the time outside of watching 16 sunsets each day. They like to play a version of air hockey, she explained, in which crewmates blow a pingpong ball back and forth in the weightless microgravity of the ISS. They watch movies, tell riddles and other activities that don't require much equipment, she said. "We do have a pretty playful spirit up here, because at the end of the day, we're living out our dreams here in microgravity, and we're having a lot of fun doing it," McClain said while doing backflips in midair, her microphone still floating when she let it go. While riddles and games satisfy astronauts' playful spirit, McClain is kept plenty busy with work aboard the ISS. Since 2000, more than 270 astronauts have conducted more than 4,000 experiments to help advance human health, safety and technology. Matthew Manley, a student of St. Thomas More Catholic School, asked McClain her favorite experiment. It was hard for her to pick from the hundreds to which she's contributed, but she highlighted research on growing plants without sunlight. Matthew was eager to address McClain, but the two go way back — they even have a rocket-themed handshake to prove it. An aspiring astronaut, 11-year-old Matthew met McClain through the local nonprofit Wishing Star Foundation, which sent him and his family to tour the NASA facility in Houston with McClain and visited Cape Canaveral to watch her launch in March. "That was my wish, because I have to wear a BiPAP at night; it's this big mask that goes all the way around my whole face, and I've always thought it was like an astronaut mask," Matthew said. His siblings, Miranda and Joshua, were also in attendance, decked out in NASA gear. Though they don't share their brother's dreams of space travel, there was plenty for them to learn from McClain's 20-minute address. "The highs are great, but you are gonna have some lows," said Joshua, 9. Resoundingly, kids learned to "follow your dreams," many said. Graeme Scott, a fourth -grader at Ruben Trejo Dual Language Academy, left with the lesson to "keep going and always achieve my goal," he said. One goal for the youngster is to finish a Lego set he got for Christmas, a model of the Endurance sea ship that includes over 3,000 plastic pieces to assemble. "I rage quit," he said. "I couldn't get these two massive pieces to fit together." "Some things are hard, but you just keep going and going," classmate Reece Tennant added. To the 1,300 kids watching, the downlink showed undeniably that someone who once played in their same parks, roamed the same streets and sat in the same gym could set their sights high and reach them. McClain was once a Spokane student, much like the audience, before becoming a West Point graduate, Team USA Rugby player and Army pilot with more than 2,000 flight hours. Steve Schreiner, a former classmate of McClain's and now G-Prep IT director, said as he emceed the event that she's a model for kids regardless of their ambitions. "Every kid is in need of inspiration," Schreiner said. "It doesn't have to be space, but this is a really visible way to see the end result of an inspired person's work. I hope kids will leave here thinking to themselves that they can set their own path to whatever they want for themselves." Schreiner said he hoped those children pondered what a "fulfilling" line of work would be. "I feel like that's a message that's lost on children," Schreiner said. "When we define success, it's often financial success, but I think Anne shows that fulfillment should be at the center of our decision making." McClain's journey to her dream job did not come without challenges, as she and her mother, Charlotte Lamp, told the crowded gymnasium Tuesday. There were a handful of times that McClain was almost bumped off the path to becoming an astronaut, like when she suffered an injury in a high school softball game that delayed her start at West Point by a year, Lamp said. While biding her time, McClain took some classes at Spokane Falls Community College, joined Gonzaga University and started considering becoming a firefighter. "I think she was trying to find out, 'What are things that would interest me if I can't go on to become an astronaut?' " Lamp said. It worked out in the end; Lamp encouraged McClain to recommit to her goal since childhood, and McClain wound up finding her passion for rugby while hanging around the Gonzaga campus that year. "I love that there are so many kids that have heard her say she had to keep making the decision over and over again, and doing things, as she says, that pushed her beyond her comfort level," Lamp said. "That's a huge thing, because so many people have visions of what they want to do as kids, and it falls away." She's arrived at the goal she first verbalized as a preschool student, but McClain said the role comes with unique challenges and stressors. McClain told Spokane youth being an astronaut requires flexibility and a diverse skill set, as evidenced by the rigorous training regiments she and her peers underwent. On a day-by-day basis, astronauts cycle through underwater strength training to simulate space, foreign language lessons to communicate with their crewmates, learning medical maneuvers like drawing blood to further research or boot camps on how to communicate their complicated work to the public, McClain said. "And if you just think about the skills that each one of those things requires, it requires you to adapt over time, but it also requires you to adapt a lot during one single day," McClain said. "You may have to be really good at something at 9 o'clock in the morning and then completely shift what skills you're using at 1 o'clock in the afternoon. That ability to adapt and change, and to kind of get used to that, was a real challenge." Lamp said she was happy to see so many Spokane kids in attendance to hear her daughter's message. She sent McClain a few photos of the crowd of students just before the event got underway, alongside the message: "this place is packed." Before the satellite connection came to a close, McClain told those students of her faith they'll go on to reach lofty heights of their own. "The biggest thing that I can tell you is that you can do anything from Spokane," McClain said. "I grew up in Spokane, and here I am in space. I can't wait to see what you guys do." Elena Perry's work is funded in part by members of the Spokane community via the Community Journalism and Civic Engagement Fund. This story can be republished by other organizations for free under a Creative Commons license. For more information on this, please contact our newspaper's managing editor.
Newsweek
6 days ago
- Health
- Newsweek
Pioneering Aerospace Medicine Program to Study Long-Term Effects of Space Travel
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Astronauts undergo years of rigorous training to spend time on the International Space Station. Still, their bodies suffer many changes while they are in microgravity. Texas A&M University's Aerospace Medicine Program is putting long-duration spaceflight at the center of its research and education, a first-of-its-kind initiative. Astronauts are known to face multiple health challenges while in space. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) defines these risks by the acronym RIDGE, which represents conditions that spring from space radiation, isolation and confinement, distance from Earth, gravity fields and hostile/closed environments. Radiation exposure results from galactic cosmic rays and solar particle events. It is assumed that exposure to these for long periods of time can lead to an increased cancer risk, nervous system damage, degenerative tissue effects, acute radiation syndrome and other diseases. These predicted outcomes are parallel to what was experienced in the days, weeks and years after the Chernobyl disaster. Isolation and confinement can lead to mental health difficulties. Sleep, mission fatigue and communication trouble are some of the obstacles astronauts face during extended missions. Once back home, astronauts may have trouble adapting back into their families' daily routines. The distance from spacecraft to Earth does not allow astronauts to pop out to the grocery store or pharmacy if they need something. Instead, the payload they carry with them must have all the necessary medical supplies when it leaves Earth. Anticipating every possible situation, which also involves balancing cargo weight and risk, is part of the equation. Crew-10 mission astronauts NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers (C) waves to family members alongside NASA mission commander Anne McClain (R) and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi (L) before heading to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space... Crew-10 mission astronauts NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers (C) waves to family members alongside NASA mission commander Anne McClain (R) and JAXA astronaut Takuya Onishi (L) before heading to the launch pad at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on March 14, 2025. (Photo by Gregg Newton / AFP) (Photo by GREGG NEWTON/AFP via Getty Images) More Gregg Newton/AFP via Getty Images During space travel, astronauts encounter Earth's gravity and the weightlessness of space. With travel to Mars comes a third force factor: Mars has its own gravitational pull, one-third that of Earth's. Adaption and re-adaption to those circumstances is an obstacle that affects balance and bone density. Texas A&M's program is led by a doctor with keen knowledge of space travel. Dr. Jeffery Chancellor is a physicist and space radiation expert who has worked on over 10 NASA-funded flight studies. His wife, Dr. Serena Auñón-Chancellor, a physician with 15 years of experience as an astronaut, is an associate professor in the College of Medicine at the university. "We currently have three students in the inaugural aerospace medicine distinction track class, and we anticipate future cohorts to consist of five to 10 students annually. Considering the specialized nature of the curriculum and the hands-on learning opportunities, we strive to maintain a selective program to ensure each student receives a high-impact, personalized experience," Chancellor told Newsweek. That personalized experience includes course study specifically honed to fit the program and the future of space travel. "In addition to core content on human physiology in space and the operational principles of aerospace medicine, the track also covers topics such as environmental control and life support system (ECLSS), radiation biology, aviation safety, countermeasure development and space policy and ethics. Students engage in simulation-based training, research project design and collaborations with partners like NASA, commercial spaceflight firms and military aerospace units. The objective is to bridge the gap between clinical medicine and the operational, technical and scientific challenges of spaceflight," he said. Texas A&M isn't the only university in the U.S. with an aerospace medicine program. The University of Central Florida and University of California, Los Angeles, offer their own programs. The U.S. Army, Air Force and Navy also have aerospace medicine curricula. The Mayo Clinic offers the Mayo Aerospace Medicine Fellowship, a two-year accredited program that focuses on clinical work. "Our program aligns closely with other aerospace medicine curricula in foundational areas like flight physiology, emergency preparedness and the management of aerospace-related illnesses," Chancellor said. "Where we differentiate is our emphasis on emerging spaceflight environments—particularly long-duration missions in microgravity, lunar surface operations and commercial spaceflight. We intentionally incorporate lessons from analog missions, spaceflight simulations and current research on the biological impact of space exposure." "Additionally, distinction students will participate in immersive analog training scenarios, mirroring components of residency-level aerospace medicine programs. These include experiences such as attending specialized training at the FAA's Civil Aerospace Medical Institute (CAMI), shadowing flight surgeons at commercial spaceflight companies, participating in preflight medical briefings and observing launch and landing recovery operations. These activities are designed to provide early operational exposure and prepare students for the realities of clinical aerospace medicine in both governmental and commercial environments," he said. FILE - NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their... FILE - NASA astronauts Suni Williams, left, and Butch Wilmore stand together for a photo enroute to the launch pad at Space Launch Complex 41 Wednesday, June 5, 2024, in Cape Canaveral, Fla., for their liftoff on a Boeing Starliner capsule to the International Space Station. (AP Photo/Chris O'Meara, File) More AP/chris Texas A&M researchers are studying the effects of RIDGE as well as the practicality of certain aspects of aerospace medicine, such as the difficulties of filling a syringe in space to either inject a patient or draw blood. Aerospace medicine has been greatly impacted by assumed outcomes based on experiences on Earth. Texas A&M's program is designed to discover if those assumed outcomes are truths. "Since the beginning of the spaceflight program, there have been no documented health outcomes in crew members that have been attributed to space radiation exposure. The risk assumptions are based on outcomes on Earth, such as those observed in people who survived atomic bombs or occupational incidents like the Chernobyl disaster," the university said in a statement.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronaut Anne McClain to greet hometown from ISS in earth-to-space video call Tuesday
May 25—Spokane-born astronaut U.S. Army Col. Anne McClain is set to talk with Earth's schoolchildren Tuesday from the International Space Station. In a "downlink" event sponsored by the Mobius Discovery Center, McClain will answer Spokane-area pupils' prerecorded questions while floating 250 miles above the Earth's surface in a video call. The 1997 Gonzaga Prep grad and her crew, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, launched March 14 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida 4. They're scheduled to return to Earth this fall after about six months of research. It's McClain's second trip aboard to the International Space Station, spending 204 days there in 2018- 19 running hundreds of experiments, walking in space twice and partaking in another downlink event with thousands of students hosted at Gonzaga Prep. The call is scheduled for Tuesday at 10:25 a.m. The 20-minute call with McClain will be live streamed on the NASA STEM YouTube channel.
Yahoo
26-05-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Astronaut Anne McClain to greet hometown from ISS in earth-to-space video call Tuesday
May 25—Spokane-born astronaut U.S. Army Col. Anne McClain is set to talk with Earth's schoolchildren Tuesday from the International Space Station. In a "downlink" event sponsored by the Mobius Discovery Center, McClain will answer Spokane-area pupils' prerecorded questions while floating 250 miles above the Earth's surface in a video call. The 1997 Gonzaga Prep grad and her crew, NASA astronaut Nichole Ayers, Roscosmos cosmonaut Kirill Peskov and Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency astronaut Takuya Onishi, launched March 14 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida 4. They're scheduled to return to Earth this fall after about six months of research. It's McClain's second trip aboard to the International Space Station, spending 204 days there in 2018- 19 running hundreds of experiments, walking in space twice and partaking in another downlink event with thousands of students hosted at Gonzaga Prep. The call is scheduled for Tuesday at 10:25 a.m. The 20-minute call with McClain will be live streamed on the NASA STEM YouTube channel.
Yahoo
24-05-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
WATCH: Astronaut shares view of city-sized thunderstorms from space
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — It's hard to visualize the size of thunderstorms from the ground, but a video from space shows a new perspective of just how big these monster storms can truly get. Astronaut Col. Anne McClain is currently aboard the International Space Station and passed over the Southeast U.S. a few nights ago when thunderstorms were battering the East Coast. Severe thunderstorms can stretch up to 15 miles wide and reach tens of thousands of feet high, covering huge swaths of land. 'I was astounded at the scale of recent thunderstorms,' McClain wrote on X. 'Some of these flashes are as large as cities!' The video shows giant cloud formations hovering over southern states, with flashes of lightning dotting the darkness. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
