Mo. students to chat with astronaut in space

ROLLA, Mo. -- The Missouri University of Science and Technology has designed a new networking site to help middle school students in the state communicate with a NASA astronaut in space.

Through Spacebook, students from across the state are chatting with Sandra Magnus, a graduate of the university in Rolla.

Magnus is one of seven astronauts who will travel on the space shuttle Endeavour to the international space station. She is expected to help to remodel the station's interior and will share her experiences and answer questions on Spacebook.

Magnus is scheduled to return to Earth in March 2009.

Missouri S&T Chancellor John F. Carney III said the site is a way to get more young people excited about math, science and engineering.

The site was launched Monday, with questions from some of the 120 Missouri middle school students who this summer participated in a two-day Aerospace Camp at Missouri S&T.

Some questions included: "What is it like to sleep in zero gravity?" and "How do you go to the bathroom in space?"

Magnus has already been writing answers on the blog.

"I have always been interested in finding out why and how things work, and something about being on the edge of technology and pushing the boundaries of what we can do as humans seemed exciting to me," she wrote. "Also, I always dreamed of seeing our planet from space!"

The university has sent emails to schools across the state asking teachers to have their students join in the discussion.

"Anything that we can do to pique the interest of kids in this age bracket (middle school) is what we want to do," said Susan Turner, director of distance and continuing education at Missouri S&T. "Space exploration is a fantasy that everyone gets excited about."