Education Payload Operations–Sesame Street Demonstration (EPO-Sesame Street-Demos)
Research Area: Educational Demonstrations
Expedition(s): 21- 28
Principal Investigator(s): ● Matthew Keil, NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston,
Texas
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
Education Payload Operations-Sesame Street-
Demonstrations (EPO-Sesame Street-Demos)
records video education segments performed
on the International Space Station (ISS) by
crew members for episodes to air on Sesame
Street. EPO-Sesame Street-Demos aims to
promote science, technology, engineering,
and mathematics (STEM) interest.
EARTH BENEFITS
EPO-Sesame Street-Demos is part of NASA's
continuing effort to use space as a unique
educational tool for K-12 students. Everyday
items are given a new twist by combining
them with the allure of spaceflight and the
unusual weightless environment to produce
educational materials that inspire interest in
science and technology and encourage curiosity and creativity.
SPACE BENEFITS
These investigations and related activities have strong ties to NASA’s Vision for Space
Exploration and are designed to encourage students to pursue studies and careers in STEM.
RESULTS
Space station astronaut Soichi Noguchi completed 4 educational videos for “Sesame Street”
during his stay on the International Space Station from December 2009 to June 2010. The 4
videos aired on Sesame Street throughout the fall 2010 season. On the episode “F is for Float”
(show number 4214) Noguchi held up the letter “F” to represent the word “float” while he
floated around the space station to demonstrate the word.
“Word on the Street” (show number 4222) featured Noguchi explaining to the character
“Murray” what the word “float” means, using similar demonstrations with a lemon, socks, and
a ball.
On the episode “A is for Astronaut” (show number 4225) Noguchi held up the letter “A” to
Soichi Noguchi floats the letter F on the International
Space Station.