ALEXANDRIA, Va. – Join Challenger Center for Space Science Education throughout June, 2012 for a series of live interactive webcasts with personnel from NASA’s NEEMO 16 Mission Operations.

The webcasts will follow an international team of aquanauts as they travel to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean to simulate a visit to an asteroid in the 16th expedition of NASA Extreme Environment Mission Operations (NEEMO). The NEEMO 16 mission will test innovative solutions to engineering challenges allowing astronauts to eventually explore asteroids.

No registration is required and the webcasts are free. To join a webcast, visit http://webcast.challenger.org. Adobe Flash Player is required to participate and view the webcast. A new web environment will open on your computer with a chat interface to ask questions. You may submit questions via theinstant message feature during the live webcasts.

Webcast Series Background:

The NEEMO 16 expedition will focus on three areas: communication delays, restraint and translation techniques, and optimum crew size. The crew of four will spend 12 days living 63 feet below the Atlantic Ocean’s surface on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Aquarius Reef Base undersea research habitat off the coast of Key Largo, FL. NASA astronaut and former space shuttle crew member Dottie M. Metcalf-Lindenburger will lead the crew. She will be joined by fellow astronauts Kimiya Yui of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency and Timothy Peake of the European Space Agency and Cornell University professor Steven Squyres, who was also a NEEMO 15 crew member. The NEEMO mission is sponsored by NASA’s Advanced Exploration Systems Programs.

Join us for these live interactive webcasts with NEEMO team members:

– Dr. Stan Love, Tuesday June 12th from 1:30-2:00pm ET
– JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui, Saturday June 16th, 3:35-4:05pm ET
– Dr. Steve Squyres, Sunday, June 17th, 3:10-3:40pm ET
– NEEMO 16 Crew in the Aquarius Laboratory, Thursday, June 21st, 10:55-11:35am ET

For more information about NEEMO and the crew and links to follow the mission on Facebook and Twitter, visit: http://www.challenger.org/neemo.

About Challenger Center for Space Science Education

Using space exploration as a theme and simulations as a vehicle, Challenger Center for Space Science Education and its international network of 47 Challenger Learning Centers create positive educational experiences that raise students’ expectations of success, fosters a long-term interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), and inspires students to pursue studies and careers in these areas. Challenger Center’s network of Challenger Learning Centers across the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and South Korea reach more than 400,000 students each year through simulated space missions and educational programs, and engage over 40,000 educators through missions, teacher workshops and other programs. To learn more about Challenger Center for Space Science Education, visit http://www.challenger.org.

Challenger Center for Space Science Education
Angie Tenne
700 N. Fairfax St., Suite 302
Alexandria, VA 22314
info@challenger.org
+1-800-969-5747