NASA Astronaut Anil Menon to Connect with Students for National STEM Day Call

NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement is hosting a live, interactive call for National STEM Day that will connect students nationwide with a NASA astronaut and a STEM educator. On Wednesday, November 4, the event will begin at 11 a.m. EST and will be streamed on NASA’s flagship YouTube channel and the Learn With NASA channels.

The call will feature Expedition 74 flight engineer Anil Menon aboard the International Space Station. From the ISS’s Quest airlock, Menon will answer student questions about living and working in microgravity, the path to becoming an astronaut, and the technologies that enable human spaceflight. Mark Rober, a STEM content creator and founder of the ClassCrunchLabs Foundation, will join from California to discuss how curiosity, creativity, and hands‑on problem‑solving guided his transition from NASA engineer to STEM educator.

During the downlink, students will see the space station in real time as Menon demonstrates how everyday activities—such as eating and experimenting—change in microgravity. The session is part of NASA’s broader effort to provide authentic STEM experiences that build technical skills and introduce aerospace careers.

This event also marks the launch of a new partnership between NASA and the ClassCrunchLabs Foundation. Together, the organizations will expand access to STEM learning by aligning NASA’s mission‑driven resources with CrunchLabs’ hands‑on engineering content. Educators and families are encouraged to tune in and celebrate National STEM Day with this inspiring conversation. For more information on NASA in‑flight calls, visit https://www.nasa.gov/stemonstation.