International Space Station Crew Talks With Regional Educators
Educators will talk with orbiting International Space
Station astronauts during a special conference call at
NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center, Edwards, Calif., July
15.
Five competitively selected NASA Explorer Schools’ teams
will participate in a downlink with the Space Station.
Expedition 7 Commander Yuri Malenchenko and NASA Station
Science Officer Ed Lu will answer the educators’ questions.
Dryden is hosting the video and audio downlink during a
workshop.
The five schools are: Black Mountain Elementary and Middle
School, Golden Valley, Ariz.; Flagstaff Middle School,
Flagstaff, Ariz.; Kennedy Elementary School, San Diego;
Edwards Middle School, Edwards Air Force Base, Calif.; and
Gifford C. Cole Middle School, Lancaster, Calif.
The schools are participants in a new NASA education
initiative that establishes a three-year partnership between
the agency 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 the crew, participants
will take a virtual tour of the Station through video
teleconferencing with NASA’s Johnson Space Center (JSC),
Houston. 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, which runs July 12-18.
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 Space Station program, provided via NASA downlink, is
one in a series of 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 JSC, facilitates educational
opportunities that use the unique environment of human space
flight. 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 downlink, from 12:10 to 12:30
p.m. EDT on July 15, may call Leslie Williams at: 661/276-
3893. The downlink will be carried on NASA TV. NASA TV is
broadcast on 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 6.80 MHz.
For information about NASA on the Internet, visit:
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
For information about NASA Education programs visit:
