Astronauts Are Reading Storybooks to Kids from Outer Space and Here's How to Get in the Orbit
Story time is fun and all, but with so many distractions these days, it can be hard to get kids to focus on a book instead of an iPad blaring Daniel Tiger. A new project from the nonprofit Global Space Education Foundation, called Story Time from Space, however, wants to make escaping into the pages of a good book exciting again for kids (and, OK, space-loving adults, too).
The program, which includes astronauts, scientists and educators, chooses popular kids’ books that can be read in 15 minutes or less and cover science, technology, engineering or technology (STEM) topics. The chosen books are then sent to the International Space Station, where American astronauts like Kate Rubins, Mike Hopkins, Tim Kopra, Joseph Acaba and Mark Vande Hei, British astronaut Tim Peake and Japanese astronaut Koichi Wakata read the books on video while in orbit.
There are already 12 videos of astronauts reading the books, which include Max Goes to the Moon and Rosie Revere, Engineer, on the Story Time from Space website and YouTube channel, with more to come.
“Everybody thinks space is pretty cool, so it’s a nice way to capture the audience and capture the kids so they are enjoying space,” Patricia Tribe, former director of education at Space Center Houston and the project’s founder, told The Huffington Post last week.
Just don’t be surprised if you catch yourself watching all the videos long after the kiddos have called it quits. (Space is awesome, isn’t it?)
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