NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Hopefully you're already familiar with NASA's Explorer Schools program. Schools partner with NASA for three years to bring exciting and unique opportunities to educators, administrators, students and families.

Image to right: NASA Explorer Schools is a program designed to bring engaging mathematics, science and technology learning to educators, students, and families. Credit: NASA

NASA supports Explorer Schools with financial support (based upon funding) and educator professional development at various NASA workshops, as well as additional resources. It's part of NASA's commitment to improving science and mathematics instruction for elementary and middle school students in the United States.

Now the Explorer School concept is going to the Netherlands. The Delta Researchers School Program is patterned after NASA Explorer Schools and focuses on children between the ages of 9 and 12. DRS will emphasize human spaceflight, the International Space Station and other international cooperative projects.

The program's name comes from the European Space Agency's Delta Mission, which was a part of the ISS/Soyuz Crew-exchange missions flown in April 2004. Dutch/ESA astronaut André Kuipers flew the Delta Mission, which explains the Dutch connection to this project!

NASA's Education Office is working with the ESA and the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science to set up the new program. Funding comes from the Dutch Ministry.

As part of the joint effort, NASA will bring Dutch teachers to NES workshops at NASA centers. Using NASA's materials, the teachers will gain many new resources and technology tools. NES administrators will support and provide distance-learning projects to support the DRS program. One of the first activities is a ham radio conversation between Dutch students and the International Space Station crew.

Image to left: Astronaut Blaine Hammond talked with students via ham radio while he was in space. Credit: NASA

"The Delta Researchers Schools initiative will undoubtedly strengthen NASA's ties with the Netherlands and the broader European community now and in the future," said Clifford Sobel, U.S. Ambassador to the Netherlands.

Beginning next school year, there will be 15 schools participating in DRS. The Netherlands is much smaller than the United States. The Netherlands is about twice the size of the state of New Jersey. NASA's NES program brings in 50 new schools each year -- which means that at any given time in the three-year cycle, there will be 150 schools participating.

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Maggie Griffin/MSFC