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. 

FMI: www.nasa.gov/education