For Release: May 1, 1997

Nicole Forest
(757) 864-5036

Michael Finneran
(757) 864-6121

RELEASE NO. 97-030

KIDSAT CEREMONY RECOGNIZES LOCAL STUDENTS

Hampton Roads middle school students who participated in NASA's KidSat program will attend a KidSat Recognition Ceremony at 10 a.m., Monday, May 5 at the H.J.E. Reid Conference Center, NASA Langley Research Center.

Students from Crittenden Middle School in Newport News and Yorktown Middle School in York County took part in the KidSat program, which involved 15 schools around the country that are near NASA field centers.

The ceremony will include students presenting their KidSat research and findings, and an interactive television hook-up via satellite from Johnson Space Center with crew members from the STS-81, the 81st shuttle mission.

"As a result of the KidSat program, students were able to bring to life the subjects of geography, science and math," said Dr. Shelley Canright, Langley KidSat program manager.

The KidSat program was designed to give middle school students a chance to observe Earth from space while conducting scientific inquiries based on their classroom studies. Students at each of these schools set up Student Mission Operations Centers linked with the STS-81, the 81st shuttle flight. The mission included docking with the Russian space station Mir.

The images from space were taken with a KidSat camera in the Atlantis crew cabin and made available only if students correctly followed mission protocols and issue the proper commands over the Internet.

If media would like to attend the ceremony please make arrangements with Nicole Forest at 864-5036.

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