NASA hosts live ISS call with astronaut and STEM creator

NASA will host a live interactive in-flight call from the International Space Station at 11 a.m. EST on Wednesday, Nov. 4, linking students nationwide with astronaut Anil Menon and STEM creator Mark Rober for National STEM Day. The agency announced the event on Nov. 3, 2026. Students across the country will join the education downlink with the orbiting station.

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement is hosting the downlink to bring practical science and engineering into classrooms nationwide for National STEM Day. NASA says National STEM Day honors hands-on learning. The day seeks to motivate the coming generation of researchers, technicians, engineers and inventors to advance NASA’s exploration aims. The call advances NASA’s wider goal of giving students genuine STEM experiences, strengthening technical abilities and presenting aerospace jobs as options.

Menon, a NASA astronaut aboard the International Space Station, will field student questions from orbit about microgravity living and work, how to become an astronaut, and the technology behind human spaceflight. NASA said students will view the station live as Menon shows how routine tasks such as eating and conducting experiments differ in microgravity. He will answer questions about preparing for a career in spaceflight.

Rober will speak from California about how curiosity, creativity and hands-on problem-solving guided his shift from working as a NASA engineer to becoming a STEM creator. NASA announced the details on Nov. 3, 2026. His segment will explain how those qualities shaped his move from NASA engineering to STEM education. The event connects an orbiting astronaut with a STEM educator on Earth, with Rober’s segment from California and Menon’s answers from the station.

NASA and the ClassCrunchLabs Foundation are starting a new collaboration tied to this downlink to widen student access to STEM learning across the country. The groups plan to match NASA’s school resources with CrunchLabs’ hands-on engineering work using joint programs and outreach. NASA says the joint effort hopes to motivate more students to join science, engineering and problem-solving. Those abilities open doors to aerospace work and beyond.

NASA urges teachers and families, the intended audience, to watch the National STEM Day conversation linking an orbiting astronaut with a STEM educator on Earth. The call will be viewable on the agency’s main YouTube channel. Further engagement will be available through NASA’s Learn With NASA channels. The agency shared the viewing details alongside the event announcement on Nov. 3, 2026.

NASA Science maintains an in-flight education downlinks page. The page describes in-flight education downlinks as events that let students hear from NASA astronauts answering prerecorded STEM questions. The agency’s downlinks page was updated Oct. 15, 2026 and lists recent downlinks for students in New Jersey, New York, Florida, Missouri and Pennsylvania. Those events connected students with astronauts Chris Williams, Jessica Meir, Jack Hathaway, Jonny Kim and JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui during past downlinks.

NASA Science updated its in-flight education downlinks page on Oct. 15, 2026 to reflect a change to an event start time, according to an editor’s note on the page. The page was also updated on Sept. 22, 2026 to note a time change for an in-flight call with students.