Alexandria, VA – Richard Garriott, private space explorer and son of NASA’s Skylab Astronaut Dr. Owen Garriott, plans to talk with students through a NASA sponsored live video teleconference, broadcast via the Internet on October 20th at 1:00pm ET during his flight to the International Space Station. The downlink event will be held in Reston, Virginia in coordination with KZO Innovations with students from two D.C. Metropolitan area schools and four Challenger Learning Centers. Students will ask Mr. Garriott original questions about living and working in space. The event will be broadcast live at http://www.challenger.org .
Students have posed intriguing questions, such as; “What are you looking for in space? What does the Earth look like from space? Do you think that someday we will live in space? Is there another planet on which humans can live?” and in support of Richard’s planned on-orbit activities for students, playing sports in space, “How will you compensate for your players lack of ability to gain momentum?”
Students involved are from Hunter Woods Elementary in Reston, Virginia and Ardmore Elementary from Springdale, Maryland, the Lower Hudson Valley Challenger Learning Center in Suffern, NY, the Buehler Challenger and Science Center in Paramus, New Jersey, the Challenger Learning Center for Science and Technology in Woodstock, Illinois and the Brownsburg Challenger Learning Center in Brownsburg, Indiana.
Mr. Garriott is conducting a variety of educational activities as a part of his scheduled flight to the International Space Station in partnership with the Challenger Center for Space Science Education. Teachers and their students can replicate on-orbit activities to demonstrate important concepts in physics and share their predictions about what might happen in the microgravity (weightless) environment of space. Lessons in support of Garriott’s on orbit activities, plus webcasts, podcasts and student’s predications on YouTube are available at http://www.challenger.org
Challenger Center for Space Science Education was founded in 1986 by the families of the astronauts of the space shuttle Challenger 51-L mission and is dedicated to the educational spirit of that mission. Challenger Learning Center programs at 50 centers continue the crew’s mission of engaging teachers and students in science, mathematics, engineering and technology. To locate a Challenger Learning Center near you, visit http://www.challenger.org
For Challenger Center information, please contact:
Rita Karl, Director of Educational Programs
Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, VA
703-535-1345; rkarl@challenger.org
If you are a member of the media and would like to request an interview with Richard Garriott, please contact: Stacey Tearne
Space Adventures
703-894-2192, stearne@spaceadventures.com
