WATCH: Camas astronaut speaks to students live from space
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PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Students from the Camas School District got an out-of-this-world opportunity to connect live with a NASA astronaut on the International Space Station Thursday, who also happens to hail from their hometown.
Dr. Michael Barratt, a Camas High School graduate, is on his third ISS mission, currently piloting a Space-X Crew-8 mission which launched from Florida’s Kennedy Space Center in early March. He was joined by two other astronauts and one cosmonaut, who are set for a six-month stay at the ISS.
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Dr. Barratt connected live from the International Space Station (ISS) for a special, 25-minute session, where students viewed him in real time as he shared his experiences orbiting the Earth at over 17,000 miles per hour.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for our students and community to interact with a real-life astronaut who walked the same halls as many of our current students,” Superintendent John Anzalone. “We are incredibly proud of Dr. Barratt and grateful for his willingness to inspire the next generation of explorers and scientists.”
Prior to officially becoming an astronaut in 2000, Dr. Barratt held various positions in the medical field at NASA, including serving as medical operations lead for the ISS and being the lead crew surgeon for its first expedition. He even worked and trained in Russia at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center.
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Serving as a NASA astronaut since 2000, Dr. Barratt has performed ISS spacewalks and served as a mission specialist for the last flight of the Space Shuttle Discovery back in 2011, among other positions.
His most recent research focus is on understanding and alleviating the health risks of a human mission to Mars.
During this current mission, the crew – including Dr. Barratt – will conduct over 200 scientific experiments and technology demonstrations at the station’s orbiting laboratory, including new research to prepare for human exploration.
Watch the full video in the player above.
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