On March 23, 2003 Sheridan had an extraordinary and rare downlink from the International Space Station. Students talked live by videoconferencing to the crew of Expedition 10, Leroy Chiou and cosmonaut Sharipov. Sheridan hosted several events in preparation for this special event. The first of these was Blastoff Day in October. The second was a star night to view the space station as it flew over New Haven at 5:12 PM. Dr. David Johnson (Yale Astronomy) and members of the New Haven Astronomical Society provided telescopes and volunteer astronomists pointed out the ISS, star constellations and interesting observations of the New Haven night sky.

Students met first in the Robotics Lab where members of the PTSO provided pizza and students completed science and art activities. Mr. Miller, a parent, showed students how they could navigate the web to located the exact co-ordinates for the ISS flyby.

At 4:45 PM we went to the field where we were joined by more parents and received instructions as to where we should be watching. It was thrilling to watch the space station make its way across the New Haven skyline and realize that we would soon have the opportunity to speak directly to the crew.