July 29, 2003

Gretchen Cook-Anderson
Headquarters, Washington 
(Phone: 202/358-0836) 

Jonas Dino
Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif. 
(Phone: 650/604-5612/9000) 
<br /?RELEASE: 03-252

SPACE STATION CREW BRINGS SCIENCE DOWN TO EARTH

The crew of the International Space Station will give educators a 
boost during a professional development workshop for the NASA 
Explorer Schools program. 

A conversation with the Space Station crew is one of the highlights 
for 25 teachers and administrators from five NASA Explorer Schools 
Thursday, July 31 from 2:50 to 3:10 p.m. EDT. NASA astronaut Ed Lu 
and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko will chat with educators at 
the Ames Research Center (ARC), Moffett Field, Calif. Educators are 
participating in a five-day Explorer Schools workshop focusing on how 
NASA can work with institutions to develop unique and compelling 
material to use in the classroom. 

"We are extremely excited to introduce the agency's finest engineers 
and scientists to the NASA Explorer Schools. It is our intention 
these competitively selected schools become examples of how education 
may be empowered throughout the United States," said Mark Leon, 
Deputy Director of Education at ARC. 

The five schools participating in the ARC session are: Chapman School, 
Sheridan, Ore.; Chiefess Kamakahelei Middle School, Lihue, Hawaii; 
Jim Bridger Middle School, Las Vegas; Poplar Middle School, Poplar, 
Mont., and Waimea Middle School, Kamuela, Hawaii. They are among the 
50 middle schools selected in the program's pilot year. Explorer 
Schools teams attending the workshop at NASA's Jet Propulsion 
Laboratory (JPL) in Pasadena, Calif. also submitted questions for the 
Station crew and will view the downlink remotely.

The goal of the NASA Explorer Schools program is to address the 
nation's needs in mathematics, science and technology for grades four 
through nine. During a three-year partnership, NASA will work with 
each school to incorporate the agency's cutting-edge research and 
unique missions to inspire students.

Teachers and administrators will have access to additional 
professional development, grants, NASA researchers and scientists. In 
addition, aerospace education specialists will periodically visit 
each NASA Explorer Schools team to give inspirational talks and 
demonstrations. 

"As NASA Aerospace Education Specialists we are able to bring math and 
science to students and teachers on a personal level. Our reward is 
seeing their smiles and watching their eyes light up with 
understanding," said Thomas Gates, NASA Aerospace Education 
Specialist. The NASA Aerospace Education Specialist program has 
helped inspire the next generation of explorers for more than 40 
years. 

The NASA Explorer Schools program is sponsored and implemented by NASA 
through a cooperative agreement with the National Science Teachers 
Association, Arlington, Va. NASA begins recruiting for the 2004 NASA 
Explorer Schools Program on September 1.

The International Space Station event, provided via NASA downlink, is 
one in a series for education organizations across the country and 
abroad. The events are integral components of NASA's Teaching From 
Space Program. The Teaching From Space Program, managed from the 
Johnson Space Center in Houston, enables educational opportunities 
using the unique environment of human space flight. 

The downlink will be carried live on NASA TV, which is available on 
AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. 
Polarization is vertical. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz, and audio is 
monaural at 6.80 MHz.

For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:



http://www.nasa.gov 

For information about NASA education programs visit: 



http://education.nasa.gov

For information about the NASA Explorer Schools Program visit: 



http://explorerschools.nasa.gov

For information about NASA's Teaching From Space Program visit: 



http://education.jsc.nasa.gov/Educators/tfsp.htm

	
-end-