INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION CREW TALKS WITH LOCAL EDUCATORS JULY 15
July 11, 2003
Release: 03-39
Educators will talk with orbiting space station astronauts during a special conference call at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., Tuesday morning.
Five competitively selected NASA Explorer School teams will participate in an uplink with the International Space Station (ISS). Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA ISS Science Officer Ed Lu will answer the educators’ questions. NASA Dryden is hosting the video and audio link during a workshop July 12-18.
The five schools are Black Mountain Elementary and Middle School, Golden Valley, Ariz.; Flagstaff Middle School, Flagstaff, Ariz.; Kennedy Elementary School, San Diego, Calif.; Edwards Middle School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; and Gifford C. Cole Middle School, Lancaster, Calif.
They are participants in a new NASA education initiative that establishes a three-year partnership between NASA and 50 NASA Explorer School (NES) teams, consisting of teachers and education administrators from diverse communities across the country. The aim of the program is to increase middle school students’ interest, participation, and ability to apply science, mathematics and technology concepts.
In addition to the interface with ISS astronauts, the participants will take a virtual tour of the Station through video teleconferencing with NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Houston, Texas. Team members will observe NASA’s mission of aeronautical and earth science research at Dryden through interaction with pilots, engineers, scientists and education specialists. Activities, including tours of aircraft, simulators and facilities, are incorporated into the workshop.
The NES teams will work with NASA personnel to develop an action plan that addresses local needs in mathematics, science and technology and incorporates NASA data and materials in their curriculum.
The International Space Station program, provided via NASA downlink, is one in a series of such downlinks to educational organizations across the country and abroad, and an integral component of NASA’s Teaching from Space Program. The Teaching from Space Program, managed from the Johnson Space Center, facilitates educational opportunities that use the unique environment of human space flight. In doing so, the program builds partnerships with the education communities to create unique learning opportunities through the use of NASA research and educational technology.
Media wishing to observe the uplink, which will take place 9:55 – 10:15 a.m. PDT on July 15, may call Leslie Williams at (661) 276-3893. The uplink can be viewed on NASA TV at AMC-9, transponder 9C, C-Band, located at 85 degrees west longitude. The frequency is 3880.0 MHz. Polarization is vertical and audio is monaural at 6.8 MHz.
For more information about the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center visit: www.dfrc.nasa.gov
For more information about the NASA Explorer Schools Program visit: http://explorerschools.nasa.gov
For more information about NASA’s Teaching from Space Program visit: http://education.jsc.nasa.gov/Educators/tfsp.htm
For information about other NASA Education programs visit: http://education.nasa.gov
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