>> "teen kids news" is on now and here's what we've got. >> is there room in space for you? find out where nasa's going in the future -- and how you can get on board. >> join us as we travel back in time to the 1700's. >> and much more, next on "teen kids news." >> welcome to teen kids news,

i'm mwanzaa. >> and i'm jessica. here's our top story for this week. it's no secret -- our nation needs more students to focus on math and science. it's a path that could really send your career soaring, literally. nicole found out what it takes to become an astronaut. >> in 1961, alan shepard became the first american in space, and made becoming an astronaut the dream of millions of kids. shepard's historic flight was part of project mercury. our first baby steps in space exploration. over the years, the national aeronautics and space administration, nasa, has piloted many manned programs. project gemini set the stage for long-distance travel and first american spacewalks. apollo missions landed men on the moon. skylab was america's first orbiting space station. the shuttle program changed the

way we launched and returned. for the first time, astronauts piloted a reusable vehicle. and currently, the international space station, with astronauts from different nations living together for months in orbit around the earth. at nasa headquarters in washington, d.c., i got to meet two astronauts -- dr. sandra magnus and leland melvin. both are examples of different ways you can become an astronaut. you might say that sandra took the more "traditional" path. >> i grew up in a small town near in southern illinois called belleville, illinois, and it was about middle school when it hit me "hey, you know, i want to go be an astronaut," and so i was going to go to school, study physics, all the way through my ph.d, apply to nasa and presto-whammo, get to be an astronaut. >> it wasn't quite "presto whammo." after sandra got her ph.d, she worked as an engineer at an aviation company for a while. >> so it took me about, gosh,

ten years or so after graduating from college to get to the point where i was ready to apply to nasa, and then i got lucky enough to be selected. >> leland was on a different career track. his thoughts of "touchdown" had nothing to do with rocket landings. it was his football career that was taking off. so, you were drafted by the nfl when you were 22. how did you end up an astronaut? >> when i was drafted i already graduated from college, i graduated with a chemistry degree. i bounced around from the detroit lions to the dallas cowboys, but in between detroit and dallas, i started graduate school at the university of virginia in material science engineering. >> but when leland got hurt on the field, it also hurt his chances for a future in pro football. >> so when i got injured again with the cowboys, i just went right back to grad school full time, and then i worked for nasa for ten years doing research, and then i applied to the astronaut corps. while there are many paths to becoming an astronaut, they all have some basic requirements.

to apply for the astronaut program you need to have a college degree in engineering, science or math -- and then professional experience, or advanced college degrees. >> three, two, one, zero -- >> so, after you get selected, do you think you head right to space? not so fast -- what are the basic steps in astronaut training? >> the first thing you do is, you go through basic training, which is land survival training, water survival training, then we go through classroom training, systems training for the space station and then space shuttle, and then after that maybe two, two and a half years we get technical assignments -- like i worked in moscow for a year working with the cosmonauts and had to learn russian and worked along with a lot of international partners. >> along with learning how to work with astronauts from all over the world, leland also had to become an expert in robotics. another job qualification?

being able to wear a suit that can weigh a couple of hundred pounds! >> it's hard to scratch! there are places you want to scratch and you really can't scratch. >> so, what was your role in space? >> on my first flight ssi22, i was the lead for all the robotics on the mission. >> that was in february 2008, and he took with him the memory of astronauts who had given their lives, to extend the horizons of our civilization. including his friend david brown, who died in the crash of the space shuttle "columbia." >> so i'm sitting there on the launchpad thinking hey, dave, hey columbia crew, i'm here to carry your legacy. that's why i didn't have any fear. >> whoo! >> seven seconds, steve. >> when we come back, we'll find out what it's like to live on the space station!

astronaut sandra magnus

spent four and a half months orbiting earth on the international space station. logging 50,304,000 miles in zero gravity. when everything is floating, there are some special challenges. >> think about your bedroom at home, what you have laying on your dresser and on your bed, and if that was your bedroom in space all of that stuff would be flying all over the place. [ laughter ] and so you need to have velcro or tape or bungee cords, your pockets need to have zippers in them because things will float out of your pockets, so you need to keep track of your stuff on a whole other level. >> so what is the size of the space station? >> it's about the size of a five-bedroom house. and that's just the living area. the entire station is bigger than a football field! >> so it is huge, and it's one of the fun things, to rendezvous and dock with the space station especially from the shuttle, we have lots of windows, it starts out as this tiny point of light, and you get closer and closer, and it keeps getting bigger and bigger, and it's like "oh, my goodness, look what we did!"

look at this huge monster building that we have built in space with all these other countries over ten years, and i'm going to live there! >> what's the best thing about being on the space station? >> well, of course, the view of our planet, it's absolutely beautiful. >> leland also has great memories from the space station, though he was there on a much shorter visit. he remembers the space station's commander inviting his shuttle crew over for dinner. >> and so she said, "you guys bring the vegetables, we'll bring the meat." and we float over with our rehydrated vegetables and we're all sitting around this table, there are african-american, asian-american, french, german, russian, first female commander -- just the whole rainbow coalition of people in space. >> and that's why the space station is up there -- not only conducting experiments, developing new medicines, and testing new technology, but also creating better communication among nations. >> and we're learning how to

work together as a planet to achieve something for the planet. and the relationships and the methods and the processes and the understanding that we gain from that kind of a project is going to carry us forward into the next couple hundred years, even! >> so if you want to become an astronaut, there's still plenty of time, and space, waiting for you! >> there is no final frontier, right? we just have to keep pushing and pushing and pushing! >> well, the universe just keeps expanding, so we keep having places to go! >> that's a good problem to have! >> at nasa headquarters in washington, d.c., for "teen kids news," i'm nicole.

this season we were invited to do some behind-the-scenes reporting on the new york yankees. here's this week's segment. >> welcome. >> hi, erika here with the field report. today, we're at the scranton/wilkes-barre yankees.

i'm going to give you a minor league experience that won't be minor at all! hey, we're here with zack segovia, the pitcher here. >> we don't have a lot of cameras here, so you can come on closer if you want to. i won't bite you, i promise. >> what is it like being in the minor leagues? >> i've been playing baseball since i was 2, so i've been in the minor leagues for i guess eight years now, but i've just gotten to scranton, and i've been part of the yankee organization since spring training. >> what do you love about being a minor leaguer? >> i know people see "bull durham," people see the bus rides, and stuff like that, and you know what, it is like that. i mean, we go to the smallest cities ever, but you develop some really close relationships, and as you keep playing, you become friends, and you know the people on the other side too, which makes just the whole baseball community just a good place to be. >> as a pitcher, how is it for you on the mound? >> it's just me versus you. my job is to get you out. >> is the atmosphere a little more relaxed in the minor leagues? >> it's great for the fans, because we are very close to them, and we do have the pinstripe patrol. i mean, we have a blast and it's awesome. >> i am going to be dancing with the pinstripe patrol tonight. any advice for me? >> are you really dancing with

the pinstripe patrol? >> yes, i am. >> wow, um, you gotta have a nickname. i mean we have a guy named hurley, obviously not his real name. we have empire. >> i play soccer. i play some tennis, soccer. >> soccer, kicks! maybe you could be kicks! yeah, kicks! >> kicks! >> let's see you kick, for your namesake. wow. she's got a name. her pinstripe patrol name is going to be kicks. >> hey, i'm here with champ. ha ha. how ya doing, champ? can you show us some of your signature moves? is it scary being in front of big crowds? no, you like it? you're the champ! what's your favorite trick? he wants us to follow him, let's go. he's a pretty good driver. whoa! pretty nice. can i help you get the crowd riled during the game?

all right. let's do it! see ya out there. i'll see ya out there. go yankees! hey, we're here with the pinstripe patrol right now. today, i am an honorary member, but we need to find out what to do first. >> tonight, we're going to take it easy on you. all you have to do with us is the, cupid shuffle, which i'm sure you've already heard of and know, so we'll take the initiation easy, and you can hop in on that dance with us. >> do you have any advice for me? >> as long as you have a smile on, the fans will adopt you right into our crew. >> all right, thank you. >> hey, guys. how ya doing today? >> hey, how ya doing? are you ready for the baseball game? >> yeah. >> all right. >> can i have a high five from everyone? >> thank you. >> all right. we'll see you later. >> this is our new edition to our pinstripe patrol for the night, her name is kicks. >> hello, nice to meet you. see you at the game, all right? what makes you good at that you do? >> i just like to have fun, i think that's what makes all of us good. i mean, we enjoy our jobs, we have fun, we love interacting

with the fans, and i think we try our best to make people's days, you know? >> sounds like a lot of fun. >> yeah, oh, i love it. best job i've ever had, by far. >> thanks. hey, how are you guys doing? are you ready for the game? >> yeah. >> can you guys give me a high five? okay, let's go. good game, have a good game. can you give me a high five? you ready? gonna have some fun? all right, we'll see you out there, all right? have fun! >> warming up! whoo! i'm so nervous! let's go! come on. ♪ >> love is in the air. the kupd shuffle. ♪ ♪

that was so much fun. good job! good job! >> thank you so much you guys! that was awesome! high five, good job! le. >> thank you. >> great job. >> see you later. >> that was tiring. >> every baseball game looks better if you're eating a hot dog. yum. >> thanks for joining us, i'm erika. this is the field report, minor league edition.

product recalls to home buying tips, government car auctions to finding a new job, whether you have information to get or ideas to give, go to the official source, usa.gov

>> this report is brought to you by the national road safety foundation. last week, we introduced you to lauren. she's the winner of the drive to life contest. as part of her prize she got to work with an award-winning production company to shoot and edit her psa on distracted driving. now it's time for her and her director to present the video to the national road safety foundation. >> as you know, i came up with the idea and filmed a rough copy of it, and then went out with the crew and shot it, and here's the -- here's the final one -- >> oh, my gosh. did you hear about brendan and ashley? >> no, what happened. >> they're dating. >> i thought he was dating hanna. >> me, too. oh, my gosh. that's so funny. oh, my gosh. did you hear about brendan and ashley. >> no. what happened?

>> sarah. sarah! [ sirens ] >> very nice. that's great. >> it came out beautiful. >> fantastic. that really is nice. well done. >> thank you. they helped me a lot. it was great. >> i absolutely love the psa that was done by lauren. it has touched me and it is a super public service announcement. >> if it changes some habits of some young people, and even maybe their parents, then that's what it's all about. it is about saving lives and preventing tragedy. >> i was kind of nervous and like, i didn't know how they were going to like it and every thing, but i think it turned out very well. >> and how would lauren rate her experience working with the professional crew? >> on scale of one to ten, probably a 1,000. it was definitely a lot of fun and i'm so glad i had the opportunity to do it. it was great.

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call now! lifelock service guarantee cannot be offered to residents of new york. >> milling corn, thrashing wheat, and milking cows -- it's hard to imagine what life was like 300 years ago. but troy visited the past, and came back with this report. >> we're walking into a new world dutch barn, which was a typical barn in the lower hudson valley during our period used for the processing of wheat, which is on the floor here. people would use flails in order to thresh the wheat and remove the seeds they they could be milled. >> we're here at phillipsburg manor, where we are taken back in time to life as it was in the 1700s. >> and believe me, life wasn't easy. the cell phone, the car, even the electric light were still hundreds of years away from being invented. instead, colonists used muscle power for daily tasks, like cleaning the barn.

>> take all of the sheep droppings and the straw, and all that mixture, and take it in the cart and haul it away. >> next time your parents ask you to clean up your room, you may not want to complain. but not all the chores were this "b-a-a-a-a-d." milling the corn, for instance, was hard work, but not as smelly. so how does this mill work? >> well, our miller is going to show you right now. he's going to open up a gate, water's going to come pouring through the flume, and it's going to hit the water wheel outside. the water wheel is hooked up to a gearing system that eventually turns a couple of stones. and the grain is fed in between those stones, ground, and then out a chute. >> besides millers, there were also coopers. >> a cooper is someone who makes casks, which is the formal term for containers of all sizes. barrels, furcins, hogsheads, you name it. and essentially, what they start with is, just a regular old piece of wood, and they shape

that piece of wood into a stave, and eventually those staves are put together into buckets, or in that case, into a barrel. >> boat building was another important trade. these teens are actually learning how to make an ice boat. >> and essentially, it's like a sailboat on sled skids, so it moves very quickly. in fact, these boats used to have the land speed record in the nineteenth century, going up to 150 miles an hour. and, as you can see, they dress in traditional clothing, and they use traditional hand tools in order to carry out this work. >> for me, it was to experience something i'm not used to, and i wanted to try different things. >> experiencing this fascinating way of life, frozen in time, made me wonder how the manor first began. >> the origins of philipsburg manor actually date back to the 17th century, in the 1680's,

when fredrick philips came and established philipsburg manor, which, over a number of years, grew to be over 50,000 acres of land. >> that's more land than the entire city of san francisco! to work such a huge farm required the labors of many different people, including some who didn't have a choice. this was a slave plantation, with 23 enslaved individuals living here. >> that's right. even though phillipsburg manor wasn't in the south, but in new york, it still used slaves. >> slavery was very, very prevalent. in 1750, for example, 20% of the population of new york city was enslaved. >> tenant farmers made up another portion of the work force. >> a tenant farmer is someone who rents land from a landowner, much like a tenant rents an apartment, but in this case, you're renting a farm. in general, they paid their rent with wheat. so they would harvest their wheat, and bring it down to the mill here, to be ground.

and a certain portion of that would go to mr. philips. >> and there's one more thing we can learn here. some of the energy sources from our past may be just what we need for our future. >> i think people are looking to wind energy, water energy again, as possible sources of energy, instead of having to dig deep into the seas, like the gulf, in order to extract oil in order to run our industry. people are looking at the ways that things used to be done and wondering whether if that's a better way for us to live on this planet. ♪ >> milling the corn at philipsburg manor, i'm troy for "teen kids news." >> this report is brought to you by lunchables with fruit. why are these kids smiling? because they know each picture they take is going to help a good cause. >> say cheese! >> feeding america is the largest domestic hunger relief organization and so lunchables is partnered with them in honor

of the launch of the new "lunchables with fruits," and they're going to donate up to a million pounds of fresh fruit to feeding america. people can participate. they can go to facebook.com/lunchables and you can go on and upload your favorite photo and then using the application there make a "fruit photo." >> for each picture that's uploaded, lunchables will donate 10 pounds of fruit to feeding america's network of food banks. to kick off the campaign, lunchables took over new york city's times square - and turned the "big apple" into the "big orange," complete with an orange grove! lunchables, in times square! >> participants got their picture taken and then fruitifed. with a big reveal on the big screen. we're famous! you can e-mail these photos on facebook, share them with whoever you want, get more people to do it, because for everyone who takes a photo and uploads it, another 10 pounds will be donated. so it's a great cause! >> and when you upload a photo, you can choose which state will receive the donation to its food banks, so you could be helping people in your own community!

for more information visit our website, teenkidsnews.com. i'm scott. >> that wraps up our show, but we'll be back soon with more "teen kids news." >> thanks for joining us, and have a great week! write to us at -- >> on behalf of everyone here at "teen kids news," we want to give a special thanks to all of our military overseas. ♪