January 28, 2010 – Alexandria, VA – Twenty-four years ago today the space shuttle Challenger and its crew of seven men and women launched into a clear blue sky at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Their mission, designated 51-L, was cut short that day, but their legacy of exploration and discovery lives on at nearly 50 Challenger Learning Centers worldwide.
A special podcast has been created to honor the Challenger crew as well as the Apollo 1 and Columbia astronauts. All will be honored this Friday during NASA’s Day of Remembrance.
Watch and listen to the podcast on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hc9R1FbOe3A
Listen to the audio podcast http://www.challenger.org/podcasts/51LAnniversary2010.mp3
As a part of this day of remembrance, alumni of Challenger Learning Center programs and other friends and supporters are invited to share their stories. How were you inspired by your Challenger Learning Center experience? Share your stories at our Facebook page, http://facebook.challenger.org.
Access Challenger Center resources at the following websites, or by emailing info@challenger.org.
http://twitter.challenger.org
http://blogs.challenger.org
http://videos.challenger.org
http://podcasts.challenger.org
About Challenger Flight 51-L
The Crew of Challenger Flight 51-L included Dick Scobee, Michael Smith, Judith Resnik, Ellison Onizuka, Ronald McNair, Gregory Jarvis, and Christa McAuliffe. Planned objectives for the mission were deployment of the second Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) and a free-flying Spartan spacecraft to study Halley’s Comet. Other payloads were a fluid dynamics experiment to be conducted by Greg Jarvis and a set of lessons to be taught by teacher Christa McAuliffe.
About Challenger Center
Using space exploration as a theme and simulations as a vehicle, Challenger Center 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 and in 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 www.challenger.org.
Contact:
Rob Cork, Director of Communications
rcork@challenger.org
703-535-1361
Challenger Center for Space Science Education
300 N. Lee Street, Suite 301,
Alexandria, VA 22314
