Richard Garriott Is Former Student Of Center's Founder
Video game developer Richard
Garriott is slated to be the next civilian to fly into space... and
he plans to follow the lead of spacegoing teacher Barbara Morgan,
through interactive lessons that will motivate and inspire students
at Challenger Learning Centers throughout the world.
As ANN has reported, Garriott
is the son of NASA Skylab Astronaut Owen Garriott. His flight
onboard a Russian Soyuz capsule is currently scheduled for lift-off
to the International Space Station on October 12, 2008.
Richard is also former student of Dr. June Scobee Rodgers, the
Founding Chairman of Challenger Center for Space Science Education,
and widow of STS-51L Commander Dick Scobee. After the tragic loss
of the Challenger space shuttle crew in January 1986, Richard
worked with Dr. Scobee Rodgers on the design of the first
Challenger Learning Center.
"Like father, like son," said Dr. Rodgers, commenting on her
former student's plans. "Dr. Owen Garriott also taught student
science lessons from space on his Skylab mission, as Richard plans
to do on his flight."
There are now over 50 Challenger Learning Centers in the United
States, Canada, England and South Korea. Richard aims to continue
the mission of Teacher-in-Space Christa McAuliffe, as did Barbara
Morgan onboard STS-118, as he delivers activities and challenges
from the International Space Station. Garriott's flight activities
have the potential to reach children across the globe as he reaches
out from the first Challenger Learning Center off the planet.
Garriott plans to spend time before, during and after his flight
working with students, teachers and the 50 Challenger Learning
Centers located in the United States, England, Canada and South
Korea. He plans to conduct a series of interactive webcasts
associated with his spaceflight training in Russia; conduct
podcasts discussing activities related to both his training and
spaceflight; hold amateur ham radio conversations with students
during his flight; and perform experiments that can be replicated
by students using everyday objects to demonstrate important
concepts in physics. Students can predict what might happen during
the same experiment in the microgravity (weightless) environment of
space.
Richard Garriott’s experiments, webcasts, and podcasts
about his flight will be available on the Challenger Center’s
national website. Dr. Rodgers also plans to present lessons to
students over the web in preparation for Richard Garriott’s
flight.