{"id":17776,"date":"2020-03-03T00:08:04","date_gmt":"2020-03-02T16:08:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/nasa-astronaut-and-seattle-schoolkids-celebrate-the-science-of-socks-in-space\/"},"modified":"2020-03-03T00:08:04","modified_gmt":"2020-03-02T16:08:04","slug":"nasa-astronaut-and-seattle-schoolkids-celebrate-the-science-of-socks-in-space","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/nasa-astronaut-and-seattle-schoolkids-celebrate-the-science-of-socks-in-space\/","title":{"rendered":"NASA astronaut and Seattle schoolkids celebrate the science of socks in space"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_550807\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-550807\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-550807\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-jessica3-v-630x575.jpg\" alt=\"Earth-to-space link\" width=\"630\" height=\"575\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-jessica3-v-630x575.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-jessica3-v-1260x1150.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-jessica3-v-768x701.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-jessica3-v-1536x1402.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-jessica3-v-2048x1869.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-550807\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A student from Seattle\u2019s Rainier Prep listens to NASA astronaut Jessica Meir answer a question posed via an Earth-to-space video link. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Astronauts on the International Space Station get thick calluses on the tops of their feet instead of the bottoms, but today students tried out ways to make the final frontier a little friendlier for feet.<\/p>\n<p>Not only did they get a chance to talk with NASA astronaut Jessica Meir about socks in space, over a video link between the space station and Seattle\u2019s Museum of Flight, but they also ran their own experiment as part of an Astro Socks Challenge created by NASA and Microsoft Education.<\/p>\n<p>The challenge, and the Earth-to-space chat, made a teachable moment out of a fact of life for long-duration spacefliers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cUp here, we float,\u201d Meir told the kids as she did a slow zero-G flip, \u201cso if we don\u2019t secure our feet somehow, then we don\u2019t stay in place.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To stay in place while they work with their hands, the station\u2019s crew members hook their feet beneath the handrails and other fittings mounted on the station\u2019s interior walls. But that rubs against the skin of the tops of the feet.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYour feet aren\u2019t really used to that,\u201d Meir said. \u201cWhen you first get up here, it takes some time to adapt to that, and your feet actually can be a little bit sore on the top as you\u2019re using them to hold yourself down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Jessica Meir speaks with students in Seattle\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ygLdRlCYma0?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s what makes socks in space so important. Even as she spoke, Meir wore dark blue socks with light blue tips (which happened to be color-coordinated with the uniform she wore). Wearing the right socks can soften the strain on a spaceflier\u2019s metatarsals.<\/p>\n<p>Does the sock design make a difference? For the Astro Socks Challenge, students in middle schools and high schools studied the physiology and the physics of footwear, and designed their own sensor-equipped socks. After today\u2019s space chat, three students in orange astronaut suits put their socks to the test.<\/p>\n<p>The kids took their seats in roller-equipped chairs, and then put on the socks and the frames that would measure the strain on the tops of their feet. When grown-up assistants pulled the chairs backward, the kids dragged their feet, and the sensors recorded how much of a load was being felt on the tops of the toes and the metatarsals. The metrics were instantly displayed on the big screen over the stage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNot only did they get feedback, but they can now go back and refine those designs and start working on them for the future,\u201d Karon Weber, partner director at the Microsoft Education Workshop, told the audience. \u201cI think your feet might be OK by the time we get to go to Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_550809\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-550809\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-550809\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-socks-630x516.jpg\" alt=\"Astro Socks Challenge\" width=\"630\" height=\"516\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-socks-630x516.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-socks-1260x1032.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-socks-768x629.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-socks-1536x1258.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/200302-socks-2048x1677.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-550809\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Karon Weber, partner director at the Microsoft Education Workshop, counts down to an experiment aimed at testing the comfort of socks designed for astronauts in zero gravity. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Going to Mars was on the minds of at least some of the students: Meir was asked more than once about her own path to becoming an astronaut, and what advice she would give for pursuing a NASA career.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe common theme is a STEM field,\u201d Meir said. \u201cScience, technology, engineering, math. If you are interested in any of those fields, I really encourage you to pursue those. That is the best path if you do want to become an astronaut.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>And as it happens, today is the first day of a monthlong NASA recruiting drive for astronauts. Applicants generally have to have at least a master\u2019s degree in a STEM field and two years of professional experience, or at least 1,000 hours of flight time in a jet aircraft \u2014 which means the kids at the Museum of Flight still have a long road ahead of them. But who knows? Maybe future astronauts will be wearing socks they designed themselves when they take their first steps on Mars.<\/p>\n<p><em>The Western Washington students who attended today\u2019s Earth-to-space video chat with Meir represented Rainier Prep in Seattle, Heritage High School in Marysville, Highline High School in Burien, International School in Bellevue, and Amelia\u2019s Aero Club at the Museum of Flight.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A student from Seattle\u2019s Rainier Prep listens to NASA astronaut Jessica Meir answer a question posed via an Earth-to-space video link. (GeekWire Photo \/ Alan Boyle) Astronauts on the International Space Station get thick calluses on the tops of their feet instead of the bottoms, but today students tried out ways to make the final [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1873,4850,717,4017,4450,190],"class_list":["post-17776","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-education","tag-footwear","tag-international-space-station","tag-microsoft","tag-museum-of-flight","tag-nasa"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17776"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17776\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}