Event In Orlando Includes Trip To KSC For Final Shuttle
Launch
More than 250 college students traveled to Central Florida
Thursday to attend an education forum hosted by NASA at the
Marriott World Center in Orlando. The event focused on their vision
for the future of America's space program.
The forum ... the agency's first-ever
"unconference" ... took place one day before the final scheduled
space shuttle launch. A popular trend in the technology sector, an
unconference has no set agenda or prescribed desired outcome.
Instead, it offers an opportunity for the participants, primarily
college students, to guide the discussions, encourage creative
interaction and debate among the attendees.
"We want our student participants to feel free to have an open
dialogue about what is important to them in the context of space
exploration, aeronautics, technology and robotics," said NASA
Associate Administrator for Education Leland Melvin. "Sometimes
having a set agenda or discussion topic can stifle creativity.
These young people are our next generation of scientists, engineers
and explorers. We encourage them to reach higher, and we are
anxious to hear what exciting pursuits they envision for the
future."
The student participants will also tour NASA's Kennedy Space Center
and meet a NASA astronaut who will give them an overview of the
final space shuttle mission. They also will witness the launch of
Atlantis on mission STS-135 (pending acceptable weather at launch
time).
The agency began holding regular pre-launch educational forums in
August 2007 with the STS-118 shuttle mission that carried teacher
turned astronaut Barbara R. Morgan. NASA has a broad education
program to encourage students to study science, technology,
engineering and mathematics, also known as STEM. NASA says
maintaining a high-tech workforce is critical to its future
programs and will help the country remain innovative and
competitive in the global market.
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