Thu, Feb 23, 2012
Seventy Educators Experienced Weightlessness In Johnson Space
Center Program
More than 70 teachers had an opportunity to experience what it
feels like to float in space as they participated in the Reduced
Gravity Education Flight Program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in
Houston last week. The teachers flew aboard an aircraft that flies
parabolic flight paths, which create brief periods of
weightlessness. It is a key component of NASA's astronaut training
protocol. The teachers were selected for the flights through NASA's
Teaching from Space and Explorer School Programs.
NASA Associate Administrator for Education and two-time space
shuttle astronaut Leland Melvin also participated in some of the
flights and shared first-hand with the participants his experiences
in astronaut training. "The enthusiasm among our teachers
participating in the reduced gravity flights is contagious," Melvin
said. "I know it will add a new dimension to their teaching as they
engage their students in science, technology, engineering and
mathematics studies."
Also participating in the flights was Mark Riccobono, executive
director of the National Federation of the Blind's Jernigan
Institute. Riccobono is blind. NASA has worked with the National
Federation of the Blind in a variety of capacities during the past
10 years to share the excitement and inspiration of the agency's
missions and programs with those who are visually impaired. "NASA
education always is looking for ways to make our offerings
available to the widest audience possible," Melvin said. "Mark
Riccobono's flight represents a new chapter in our commitment to
sharing the excitement of NASA's mission with the blind
community."
The Teaching from Space Program offers educational opportunities
that use the unique assets of NASA's human spaceflight mission to
engage the education community and create space-related learning
opportunities. Teachers used the event to work with their students
to propose, design and build the experiments they took on the
flights. Fourteen teams comprising 40 teachers from NASA Explorer
Schools also participated as part of the 2011 School Recognition
Award for their contributions to science, technology, engineering
and mathematics, or STEM. They conducted microgravity experiments
provided by NASA.
The Reduced Gravity Education Flight Program continues NASA's
investment in U.S. education by helping attract and retain students
in STEM disciplines critical to future space exploration.
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