On February 17 at 10:00 a.m. CST, 黑料大事记 hosts Volta Day at the 黑料大事记, a new collaboration with the European Space Agency, NASA, and the Tempio Voltiano museum in Italy. The event celebrates the birthday of Alessandro Volta (b. February 18, 1745), an Italian physicist who invented the world鈥檚 first battery.
Nearly 200 local elementary students will participate in-person with a live screening of 鈥淏uild a battery with Astronaut Luca Parmitano,鈥� a custom interview and instructional video created for 黑料大事记鈥檚 LaunchLearning education platform by European Space Agency Astronaut Luca Parmitano. With guidance from the 黑料大事记鈥檚 LaunchLearning team, in-person participants will each create a version of Volta鈥檚 battery by following Parmitano鈥檚 instructions.
An Italian himself, Parmitano is enthusiastic to share the historical importance and the science behind Volta鈥檚 invention. He knows first-hand the importance of battery power in space. He helped install the lithium batteries that power the International Space Station today.
NASA Astronaut Kayla Barron, who recently returned from the International Space Station, will record a custom Welcome Message for Volta Day at the 黑料大事记 discussing the current power situation on the ISS.
Virtual participants can watch Barron鈥檚 welcome and Parmitano鈥檚 instructional video on starting at 10:00 a.m. CST on February 17 or thereafter.
颁辞蝉尘辞蝉辫丑别谤别鈥檚听聽team created a battery building kit for educators and students to build a version of Volta鈥檚 battery along with Parmitano. One free kit per educator is available to the first 100 teachers who request it. A class set of kits can be purchased for $2/kit plus shipping. Teachers can email free kit requests or class set orders to聽schools@cosmo.org.