Mini-episode: What’s it Like Going to Go to Space?

🚀🌍 We’re launching one of our most inspiring episodes into a three-part mini series! Join Luis and Maxi as they blast off into an out-of-this-world adventure—one small step (and one mini episode) at a time. This time, Emily gets the chance of a lifetime: a real space mission! But… will she go?

In these mini episodes, you’ll explore astronaut training, space travel, and what Earth looks like from way above the clouds. Plus, travel back in time to meet Little Emily and discover how childhood dreams shape the future! 👧✨

Each episode is packed with wonder, courage, and big questions about following your dreams—even when they lead you to the stars. 🌌

☀️ Parents, inside the Lingokids app, we have 3,000+ fun, interactive activities, games, songs, and videos to help kids learn academics and modern life skills in today’s world. It’s free to try.

A Lingokids Original podcast produced by Studio Ochenta

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:03):
And now we're just five minutes away from the launch
of the NS twenty eighth mission. The crew is secure
it in their seats, and final systems checks are underway
by BAUL three two one, And we have a lift
of a historic moment as Emily begins her journey beyond Earth.

(00:36):
And so Luis gets ready to host his first talk
show ever.

Speaker 2 (00:41):
Okay, Maxy, this is it my first talk show solo ever.
You're right, Maxy, A good night always faces great challenges.
I can do it for Emily. Here we go. Hi, everyone,
welcome to our very last talk show for this season.

(01:04):
Let's give the warmest of welcomes to Emily Calinrelly, who
just came back from a space mission. Only on this
talk show you'll get to hear from a real astronaut
what it's like to see our big, beautiful Earth all
the way from outer space. So get ready. This is
gonna be out of this world.

Speaker 3 (01:26):
Oh thanks everyone.

Speaker 2 (01:29):
Welcome Emily.

Speaker 4 (01:31):
Wow, the spacesuit you're wearing it is Louise See, it's
all blue and it has my name sits on the
top right.

Speaker 3 (01:40):
And then we have our mission patch on the top left.

Speaker 2 (01:43):
What does the patch say?

Speaker 3 (01:44):
It says in S twenty eight.

Speaker 2 (01:47):
N S twenty eight.

Speaker 4 (01:49):
What's that? It stands for the twenty eighth mission of
New Shepherd, and New Shepherd is the name of the
rocket that I flew to space.

Speaker 3 (01:59):
And it's that way because, oh I.

Speaker 2 (02:02):
Know this one. It's because Alan Shephard was the first
American in space.

Speaker 3 (02:06):
That's right, Louise.

Speaker 4 (02:08):
And also because our flight path is very similar to
Alan Shepherd's flight. It just goes up and comes back down.

Speaker 2 (02:16):
And I get to chat with you about all that today.

Speaker 3 (02:19):
Yep, I'm ready when you are.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Okay, Emily, you just flew to space. But where did
you actually go to? Oh did you go to Pluto?
That's so far out in our Solar system?

Speaker 4 (02:32):
Well, I actually went a little bit closer to our
Earth than that. I did something called suborbital spaceflight.

Speaker 2 (02:40):
Hold on, let me write that down. Sub orbital spaceflight.
And what is this suborbital spaceflight thing?

Speaker 4 (02:50):
Well, it means it's not orbital. It's an astronaut that
flies up and comes back down without doing an orbit
around the Earth. So I up to the skies, stayed
there for a few minutes, and then came right back down.

Speaker 2 (03:05):
That's really cool. Yeah, and how is your training to
go to space.

Speaker 3 (03:09):
Oh, that's a fun story. So before going to space.

Speaker 4 (03:13):
A week before your flight, you go to the astronaut
training village.

Speaker 2 (03:20):
Hold on, an actual astronaut village.

Speaker 3 (03:24):
What does it look like.

Speaker 2 (03:25):
Oh?

Speaker 4 (03:26):
Yes, So there is an astronaut training village in the
middle of the West Texas Desert in the United States,
and this is where all of the astronauts will stay
during their training.

Speaker 3 (03:38):
It's so beautiful.

Speaker 4 (03:39):
You can see the mountains and the background, and you're
basically in the middle of nowhere. So at night, when
you look up at the sky you can see the
Milky Way. Oh my gosh, the stars there are so
much brighter than you've ever seen them.

Speaker 3 (03:55):
It's so beautiful.

Speaker 2 (03:57):
Wow.

Speaker 4 (03:58):
And what do they teach you over there, Well, they
teach you how the mission will go. What G forces
you can expect? Uh?

Speaker 2 (04:05):
What are G forces? Emily?

Speaker 4 (04:07):
Oh, well, you see, Luis, As a rocket launches, it
starts going faster and faster into the sky, so your
body starts feeling really, really heavy, and as an astronaut
you have to be ready for those G forces.

Speaker 2 (04:23):
Gotcha, sounds like takeoff is really hard.

Speaker 4 (04:26):
Yeah, Well that's what training's for to know what to expect.
Then at the village you also practice for all emergencies
that might happen, because if something were to go wrong,
you want to be prepared. You want to have a
plan in place.

Speaker 2 (04:43):
Why do you say emergencies, Do you mean like a
meteor shower.

Speaker 3 (04:47):
Well, no, not like a meteor shower, But a.

Speaker 4 (04:51):
Rocket launch can be a little risky. There's just so
many different things that could happen throughout the flight. Emergencies
are things like maybe a fire and the capsule, or
something happens to the air and you can't breathe it,
or you need to get out of the capsule really
really quickly. We practice what we would do if any

(05:12):
of those things would happen.

Speaker 2 (05:13):
That's kind of scary, Emily. So you woke up the
day you went to space, and what happened?

Speaker 3 (05:19):
Oh my gosh.

Speaker 4 (05:20):
So the night before I flew to space, I was
so excited I could not sleep at all. I went
to bed and then I woke up at eleven PM,
and then I stayed up for most of the night
after that, And when I finally got out of bed
to get ready in the morning, my heart was beating
so fast.

Speaker 3 (05:40):
My adrenaline was pumping. Oh, I was so excited.

Speaker 2 (05:44):
I'd be so excited too. And if my mom were
going to space, I tell her to name a planet
after MAXI. Right, boy, What did your kids say before
you went to space? Oh?

Speaker 4 (05:55):
Well, my daughter was a little bit scared because she
was afraid. I'm I might get captured by aliens.

Speaker 2 (06:03):
Now, that'll be a real emergency. And then I guess
you reached space. So what was it like to be
up there?

Speaker 4 (06:14):
Yeah, well, fewer than seven hundred people have ever gone
to space, and now just one hundred women, and that's
not a lot of people to see the Earth from
that perspective, you know. I just I really wanted to
be one of those people who were able to see
that view with their own eyes. And when I saw

(06:35):
the Earth from above, it was a moment I'll never forget.

Speaker 3 (06:40):
It was beautiful.

Speaker 4 (06:41):
I was seeing new images, new colors, new details, new
contrasts than I've ever seen before. The planet from that
perspective above, the atmosphere was beautiful. It's like the biggest
thing I've ever seen with my own eyes, you know.
And when you see something really big like that for yourself, well.

Speaker 3 (07:04):
It changes your mind.

Speaker 4 (07:06):
A little bit. Why, Emily, Well, because when you're up there,
you don't see the borders between countries or cities. You
see our fragile planet hanging in the void of space,
the vacuum of space. And the only thing that our
fragile planet has to protect against the vastness of space

(07:26):
is that thin blue line that's our atmosphere. And so
you realize how precious our planet really is. I just
wish more people could see our planet from that perspective.

Speaker 2 (07:40):
I love that, Emily. Maybe even kids can go to
space sometime.

Speaker 4 (07:44):
Oh that will be cool, Luis, that was a really
good interview.

Speaker 3 (07:50):
You did great.

Speaker 2 (07:52):
Thanks Emily, Hey there, thanks for being here for this
super special episode of growing Up and for hanging out
with us.

Speaker 4 (08:08):
There's a lot more to explore on the world's number
one learning.

Speaker 2 (08:12):
App is that Lingo Kids.

Speaker 4 (08:14):
It is It has tons of videos, games, and podcasts
just like this one, and every single one is fun
and educational. Download the Lingo Kids app today for free.