Vice President Kamala Harris joked Friday that she would “write letters” to the Worldwide Space Station after her call to astronauts orbiting Earth reduce out inside minutes.
“More to come. We’ll write letters!” the vice chairman cracked whereas nonetheless holding a telephone receiver at Houston’s Johnson Space Middle.
Harris managed to ask a trio of astronauts some questions — together with about what they realized from their time in space.
“This is like my Zooms all year long,” the VP joshed as she was patched via to the ISS.
“I’m so excited to be with you all as vice president, as the head of the Space Council and as an American who’s a space nerd,” Harris gushed as soon as the connection was made.
Harris then requested: “Can you share, for those who have not been on the International Space Station: How does it impact your view of Earth when you have had that experience?”
“We look down and we see a world with no borders … We see and work with people that are, you know, from all different backgrounds,” astronaut Bob Hines informed Harris — who has confronted criticism in her position as President Biden’s US-Mexico border czar. The variety of individuals arrested for illegally crossing the border has continued to develop and is projected to exceed 2 million in fiscal 2022 — a brand new file.
Hines additionally mentioned he realized “how fragile” Earth is and the way “we have to take care of it.”
“Lessons for all of us,” Harris replied. “We’re all in this together, aren’t we? But you can see that when you’re in space — that we on Earth are all in this together. And I appreciate your point about the fragility of this beautiful Earth of ours and the need therefore to take care of it.”
Harris then requested the astronauts for classes on how to be “smarter” about caring for the planet.
Astronaut Jessica Watkins cited experiments on rising crops with out soil and anti-aging analysis.
Harris misplaced contact with the astronauts after telling them “I’m going to have a bunch of students with me today” and asking for recommendation to move alongside.
The veep was ridiculed final 12 months for using child actors — relatively than precise college students — to movie a video selling her management of the Nationwide Space Council, a job beforehand held by her predecessor, Mike Pence.
Earlier Friday, Harris introduced an initiative to boost diversity among the many workforces of personal space-focused corporations which might be reliant on authorities contracts.
In a day speech, Harris rededicated the Biden administration to the aim of touchdown “the first woman and person of color” on the moon this decade as a part of the Artemis program.
Former President Donald Trump dedicated to placing the primary lady on the moon via the Artemis program and NASA said shortly after Biden took workplace that the following lunar mission additionally would come with no less than one non-white member.
Solely 12 males — all People — have walked on the moon, starting with Neil Armstrong in 1969 and ending with Harrison Schmitt in 1972.
