美国国家航空航天局和国际空间站美国国家实验室准为被疫情困在家中的孩子们开发了一系列冒险项目和活动，其中有一个训练项目，让你在家就可以当宇航员、做气垫船、发射火箭等。

Who hasn't dreamt of escaping to the stars? Especially now, with most of us confined to limited spaces and steeped in tragic¹ news.

 

NASA and the ISS National Lab are ready to help. They've developed a range of adventurous² programs and activities for all the children stuck in home lockdown, including a training program to become a home astronaut, build a hovercraft, launch rockets, and many more.

 

"Astronauts see the world from space and want to share its beauty and its wholeness," explained ISS National Lab education manager Dan Barstow.

 

"They do medical experiments to search for cures, and they help young people see the power of the mysterious Universe to pull us to explore."

Now children can follow their lead, with free educational activities that equip parents to help students explore science subjects, from life sciences and human health to robotics, maths and physics - complete with specific guides for kindergarten through to year 12.

 

Students can take part in experiments like astronauts do on the International Space Station, and compare the results to those from space.

 

For example, observing microgravity using simple materials to demonstrate how astronauts float in space - not due to lack of gravity, but because they are constantly falling towards Earth.

 

Kids can also contribute to science in progress by joining citizen science projects, like combing through images to search for new brown dwarfs³ and planets, using satellite data to help biologists track penguin⁴ populations, and training a computer to think like a scientist for future Mars⁵ missions.

 

Until April 22, students can even help choose which plant astronauts will next grow in space. The plan is for SpaceX's October cargo⁶ resupply mission to provide astronauts with a spacefaring legume - but which legume has yet to be decided⁷. You can join team Alfalfa, Mungbean, or Lentil, and help scientists work out which plant is the best suited for living on the ISS.

 

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