NASA plans student call with Anil Menon and Mark Rober

NASA plans an Earth-to-space student call with astronaut Anil Menon and science educator Mark Rober on November 4, 2026, beginning at 11 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, or 9:30 p.m. Indian Standard Time. NASA’s November 3 announcement schedules Menon to join from the International Space Station and Rober from California.

Hosted by NASA’s Office of STEM Engagement to celebrate National STEM Day, the programme is intended to let students ask Menon about living and working in microgravity, becoming an astronaut and human-spaceflight technology. NASA plans demonstrations of how everyday activities, including eating and experiments, change in microgravity. STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Menon was born and raised in Minneapolis to Indian and Ukrainian immigrants, according to his NASA biography. The biography records his July 14, 2026 launch aboard Soyuz MS-29 for an approximately eight-month station mission. His participation provides the Indian diaspora connection to the call; NASA’s announcement describes outreach to students across the United States.

The announcement also outlines a new collaboration between NASA and the ClassCrunchLabs Foundation, founded by Rober, according to NASA. NASA describes plans to combine its educational resources with hands-on engineering content through shared programming and outreach. The announcement does not give a funding amount, duration or list of participating schools.

NASA lists its flagship YouTube channel as the public viewing route for the November 4 call, with additional engagement through Learn With NASA channels.