Sonja Alexander                              March 15, 2000
Headquarters, Washington, DC
(Phone:  202/358-1761)

Barbara Kakiris
Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH
(Phone:  216-433-2513)

MEDIA ADVISORY: m00-051

AEROSPACE LABORATORY OPENING ENCOURAGES
STUDENTS TO REACH FOR THE STARS WITH NASA HELP 

     On Thursday, March 16, another step will be taken towards 
pioneering the technology forefront with the dedication of an 
aerospace laboratory at the Anne Beers Elementary School in 
Washington, DC.  

     The new educational resource, which enables students and 
teachers to perform innovative activities such as flying simulated 
Space Shuttle missions, is the result of a partnership between 
Beers; NASA Glenn Research Center, Cleveland, OH; NASA Goddard 
Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD; Orchard Elementary School, 
Cleveland, OH; and the University of the District of Columbia.

     The ribbon-cutting ceremony will take place at Beers, located 
at 3600 Alabama Avenue, SE, Washington, DC, at 10:00 am.  NASA 
dignitaries will join former Congressman Louis Stokes, other 
government officials and Beers staff to participate in the event.

     "The collaboration between Glenn and Goddard serves as a 
catalyst for combining resources and technology to address the 
proficiency levels of the under-served community," said John M. 
Hairston, Jr., Director of External Programs at Glenn.

     The state-of-the-art laboratory boasts unique features that 
transport students from their traditional classroom setting to a 
simulated Shuttle cockpit and mission control center.  Its NASA-
developed curriculum involves students in activities that vary 
from launching and landing Shuttle missions to stargazing under 
the dome of the lab's planetarium.

     The facility will be named the Congressman Louis Stokes 
Aeronautics Laboratory in honor of the man who originally 
announced the highly successful partnership in 1998. Numerous 
positive outcomes have resulted from the collaboration.  In 
addition to assisting with the new lab opening, Glenn and Goddard 
have provided the means and support for establishing a Science, 
Engineering, and Mathematics curriculum at Beers, as well as a 
distance learning program between Beers and Orchard Elementary 
School.


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