STEVE ROBINSON: Hi Kids. I'm NASA astronaut Steve Robinson.
I've flown on three space shuttle missions and I've done a few spacewalks too. And let's talk about flying in space today.
I have some space trivia for you.
Here's question number one: Do you know what color an astronaut's spacesuit is?
KID 1: White. KID 2: White. KID 3: White. KID 4: White. KID 5: White and black. KID 6: Orange.
ROBINSON: That's exactly right. Both answers are right. We use the orange suits for launching in the space shuttle
and landing in the space shuttle, and we use the white suits for going outside of the space shuttle while we're in space.
OK. Here's the next question: How long do you think it takes to get to the International Space Station?
KID 1: About two weeks to a month. KID 2: Half an hour.
KID 3: Maybe about five hours. KID 4: About 30 minutes.
ROBINSON: Here's the answer. Well, it actually takes about 2 1/2 days, not because it's so far away, but the way we get there.
The space station is up here, going around the Earth, and when we launch,
we chase it for a couple of days until we catch up to it.
Well, since we're talking about how fast we go in space, how fast do you think the space shuttle goes?
KID 1: Hundred miles per hour. KID 2: Five hundred ninety-five miles per hour. KID 3: Probably 250 miles.
KID 4: Ten million miles an hour. KID 5: Eighteen thousand miles an hour.
ROBINSON: OK. The space shuttle goes about 17,500 miles per hour.
That's about five miles per second. You can hardly believe how fast that is.
Think about how far away your school is from home, and how long it would
take you to get to school from home if you were on a space shuttle.
I'm Steve Robinson from NASA.