HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (PIX11) – Special needs students from a camp on Long Island got to speak with an astronaut who is currently floating aboard the International Space Station in an out-of-this-world opportunity Sunday.
Camp Anchor is a year-round program serving more than a thousand children and adults with special needs. Camp members got a first-hand look at what it’s like to defy gravity from thousands of miles away, in space, as they chatted with astronaut Jasmin Moghbeli who is embarking on her very first space flight.
“I can do cool tricks like flip upside down,” Moghbeli said via a Zoom chat. “I can Superman through modules. I love being able to float around. I’m definitely going to miss it when I come back down to Earth.”
The astronaut, who grew up in the Town of Hempstead, shared stories of seeing the moon and even showed campers what it’s like to eat and drink in outer space.
“Right here I’ve got candy-coated peanuts and you can kind of shoot them out,“ Moghbeli said as she demonstrated eating the peanuts. “Eating and drinking in space is a lot of fun.”
Campers got to engage in a Q&A with the astronaut, who once volunteered with the Camp Anchor program back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Damien Galo has been a part of the program for more than a decade and said seeing Moghbeli in action made him believe that the sky is the limit despite his disability.
“If she can do it, you can do it,” said Galo. “You’re following your steps. You get to where you’re going.”
“I think it’s going to be a tremendous inspiration, not only to our participants but to our volunteers and staff to know you can do anything in life,” said MaryAnn Hanson, the program coordinator.
As Moghbeli drifts around our planet, she and staff are hoping this cosmic connection will reinforce that dreams can soar to unprecedented heights.
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