An Interview With the ISS Crew

An Interview With the Expedition 15 Crew Aboard The International Space Station, SpaceRef

"... But I think your point is absolutely great - we are practicing and we are doing research to go elsewhere. Hopefully, we are going to be going back to the moon, going on to Mars. We need a laboratory like this, which is in close contact with the folks on Earth to help us when we are doing experiments to try and figure out how to leave Low Earth Orbit. So, I think your question is great because it has two answers: we are on an expedition because we are learning and secondly we are preparing for a much bigger expedition which I hope that the next generation of kids will be on - and are excited about."

Editor's note: Yesterday I sent a link about my ISS interview to a newsletter (Space Generation TALK) that has a global circulation. This morning I got this email:

"How do you contact them? Is it possible for them to talk to African kids? We are conducting a major workshop and conference in space science in Ethiopia. It would interested to call ISS during our outreach. Can you arrange that? Abebe"

Proof positive that space exploration transcends just about every artificial border we can think of. These Ethiopians (apparently) would find it exciting - if only they had some access to it. Based on my experience, NASA's outreach people seem bored these days. What's wrong with this picture? What do the Ethiopians know that we do not?