Project Resumes After 20 Years, Aims To Use Private Spacecraft

At the National Conference on Science Education earlier this month, the Space Frontier Foundation announced a project to fly hundreds of teachers in space within the next few years. Science teachers from across America showed their support by signing a declaration saying they want to go into space.

"We've lost that 'Holy cow, we've been to the moon,'" said Kevin Runkle, a teacher at John Muir Middle School in San Jose, CA. "Our kids don't know they've lost it, but the teachers do. This project can bring it back. As good as it will be for our students, what better way to tell teachers how important they are."

Of course, the idea of flying teachers in space is not new -- and it is it not without some melancholy. In 1984, the US government created the first Teachers in Space program to fly teachers aboard the Space Shuttle. More than 11,000 teachers applied, with NASA ultimately selecting Christa McAuliffe (right) to be the first teacher in space.

After McAuliffe -- along with six other astronauts -- were lost in the Challenger shuttle accident, however, the program was derailed. At that time, President Ronald Reagan said, "We'll continue our quest in space. There will be more shuttle flights and more shuttle crews and, yes, more volunteers, more civilians, more teachers in space. Nothing ends here; our hopes and our journeys continue."

Sadly, those words were not heeded for the next 20 years... until now.

"Today, we return to that original vision," said Teachers in Space project manager Bill Boland of the Space Frontier Foundation. "Opportunities for flying on the Shuttle are going away, but American free enterprise is developing new suborbital vehicles that promise dramatic improvements in cost and safety. We intend to fulfill the original promise of Teachers in Space. Our hopes and journeys continue. The new Teachers in Space project will provide many more flights, with many more teachers."

"There's a revolution in space transportation," said Space Frontier Foundation spokesman Rick Tumlinson. "Within the next few years, there will be multiple companies offering flights to space, with ticket prices starting at around $100,000. We want to make sure that some of the first tickets go to teachers."

"We want to fly many more teachers than the original Teachers in Space program would have flown, and we want these teachers to return to the classroom within a few days to inspire thousands of students to pursue academic excellence and possibly space careers," Tumlinson continued.

The Foundation intends to seek funding for Teachers in Space flight scholarships in a multi-year campaign.

"We are hearing loud and clear that there is a critical need to attract and keep the best and brightest to teach in America's classrooms," said Boland. "We combine this need with the opportunities of the commercial spaceflight industry to create a historic win-win solution. Stay tuned, this is going to be a great ride!"

FMI: www.teachersinspace.org/