SAN ANTONIO – Editor’s note: This story was published through a partnership between KSAT and noun, an educational platform designed to provide engaging content online for students and teachers.
Hi students! Have you ever been outside and looked to the stars and just wondered, “What’s out there?”
Well, space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space.
Astronomers use telescopes to see the stars and beyond. Astronauts actually go to space during human spaceflight or by the use of probes.
In this week’s KSAT Kids edition of “Kids Wanna Know,” elementary students interview Erik von Ancken, an anchor and space reporter for WKMG, KSAT12′s sister station in Orlando, which is near the Space Coast in Florida.
Von Ancken is covering the next phase of America’s space program: the design, construction and test flight of the deep-space Orion capsule.
In 2014, he got the ride of his life in the back seat of an F-16 aircraft with the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds.
During their interview, students asked about both rocket launches and the space program. You can watch the extended interview shorts for even more from the interview below:
Important 2022 space dates to remember
- March 1, 2022 - Rocket Launch at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station. The Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-T (GOES-T) will provide imagery and atmospheric measurements of Earth’s weather, oceans and environment.
- March 30, 2022 - SpaceX Falcon 9 Axiom-1 is the first private mission to carry a crew of four to the International Space Station.
- April 15, 2022 - NASA’s SpaceX Crew 4 - The next Commercial Crew Program mission sends astronauts to the International Space Station aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule.
Noun enables students to explore their school subjects and interests using 20-minute live online interviews with subject-matter guests. Find more information here.
Interested in bringing noun to your school or classroom and take part in an interview? You can do so by clicking here. The animated class interviews will be shown online and in our free KSAT Kids newsletter and may also be seen in future newscasts!