Mark Zuckerberg convinced NASA into creating a live broadcast from the International Space Station. Facebook users were asked to prepare questions for the three astronauts that will talk live from space.

The International Space Station

The International Space Station is the largest artificial object from Earth’s low orbit. The spacecraft can be seen from Earth even without a telescope. Its primary purpose is to do experimental research in microgravity.

The space habitacle is an artificial satellite situated in the low Earth orbit. It has the longest continuous human presence in space, as it has been inhabited for over 15 years. Other habitable space stations are the Russian Salyut, Almaz, and Mir, or the US Skylab

The discussion will take 20 minutes, and it will use as a communication tool the new Facebook Live service. Mark Zuckerberg will personally initiate the call. Three astronauts will be answering from the other side of Earth’s atmosphere.

Who Are the Astronauts?

The astronauts in questions are Tim Peake from the European Space Agency and two NASA astronauts, Tim Kopra, and Jeff Williams.

Tim Peake is the seventh UK astronaut in space. He arrived at the International Space Station on 15 December 2015, and his first meal on space was composed of a bacon sandwich and a cup of tea. He also ran the London 2016 Marathon from space.

Timothy Kopra is the commander of the International Space Station. His first mission took place in 2009 and since then he spent no more than 13 hours and 31 minutes in space, outside the spacecraft.

Jeff Williams will soon be the astronaut who spent the largest number of consecutive days in space. His current mission will take 534 days, almost two years. He also has the record for the most prolific space photograph.

Space and Social Media

The Facebook event will be hosted by NASA’s official page, and users were encouraged to post any questions they might want to ask the astronauts.

Among the many comments received, a user wanted to know what would happen to the space station if the project would be discontinued. Another person asked how artificial gravity was created in space.

This is not the first attempt in social media to present astronauts as users in their services. Twitter was the first to enable direct connection between astronauts and their fans.

The Facebook broadcast will take place this Wednesday, at 12:55 PM Eastern Daylight Time.

Image Source: Wikipedia