Students at Key Peninsula Middle School, Lakebay, Wash., will learn
from Stan C. Newberry, deputy director at NASA Ames Research Center,
located in California’s Silicon Valley, and astronaut Nicholas
Patrick about the Vision for Space Exploration and how they can be an
integral part of making it a reality. The theme of the Oct. 8 visit
with the next generation of explorers is ‘There is a Place for Me at
NASA.’ News media representatives are invited to cover the event.
Date: Friday, Oct. 8, 2004
Schedule: 9:00 a.m. PDT Welcome Remarks
9:05 a.m. PDT NASA Explorer School Presentation
11:15 a.m. PDT Media Opportunity
11:30 a.m. PDT Lunch with an Astronaut
Who: NASA Ames Deputy Director Stan Newberry and astronaut
Nicholas Patrick
Where: Key Peninsula Middle School, 5510 Key Peninsula Hwy,
KPN Lakebay, Wash.
“NASA is embarking on a bold, new Vision for Space Exploration, and
the students at Key Peninsula Middle School will be the ones who will
help make the Vision a reality,” said Stan Newberry, NASA Ames deputy
director. “NASA is committed to education, and the NASA Explorer
Schools program will help open students to new possibilities and
inspire them to reach for their dreams.”
The NASA Explorer School program provides opportunities for schools,
administrators, students and their families to partner with NASA to
improve student learning; to participate in authentic experiences
with NASA science and technology; to apply NASA science, mathematics
and technology knowledge to real-world issues and problems; and to
participate in special events and other opportunities.
“We at Key Peninsula Middle School could not be more pleased or
excited about being a NASA Explorer School, nor could this honor have
come at a more dynamic time in our school’s history,” said Dennis
Nugent, Key Peninsula Middle School principal. “This program will
create opportunities and experiences for our students that we could
only have wished for before we received this honor. Already, our
students have a new awareness of our country’s space program and an
increased knowledge of how math and science have made our progress
possible. We look forward to our growing partnership with NASA and
the opportunities that this partnership will bring to our students,
our school and our community,” Nugent added.
Newberry became NASA Ames’ deputy director on July 26, 2004. Newberry
came to Ames via the NASA Engineering and Safety Center, Hampton,
Va., where his strong management and leadership skills were
instrumental in establishing the new organization developed to
improve safety at NASA. He began his NASA career at the Kennedy Space
Center in Florida after transferring from the Department of Defense.
He has held key NASA management positions, including director of
space operations at Johnson Space Center, Houston, and he served as
NASA’s representative to the Air Force Space Command in Colorado
Springs, Colo.
Newberry earned masters degrees in computer science and business from
Colorado Technical University, Denver, and the University of Central
Florida, Orlando, respectively. He completed the Harvard University
Senior Managers in Government program, Cambridge, Mass., and he has
received the NASA Exceptional Achievement Medal.
Nicholas Patrick joined NASA’s astronaut corps in August 1998 as a
mission specialist. Born in the United Kingdom, Patrick earned
bachelors and masters degrees in engineering from the University of
Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom. He also earned masters and
doctoral degrees in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, Mass. While at MIT, Patrick
became a U.S. citizen.
Patrick is an avid pilot, logging more than 1,700 hours, 800 of them
as a flight instructor, in more than 20 types of airplanes and
helicopters. During his career, Patrick has worked for aircraft
industry leaders and he holds three patents in the areas of
telerobotics, display design and integrated aircraft alerting
systems. Patrick earned several prestigious awards, including one for
outstanding contributions to the user interface design for the space
shuttle program’s cockpit avionics upgrade.
News media interested in visiting the NASA Explorer School or
interviewing Newberry or Patrick in conjunction with their visit to
Key Peninsula Middle School should contact Jonas Dino of NASA Ames at
650/207-3280 by 3 p.m. PDT, Thursday, Oct. 7. All news media
representatives will be required to sign in at the school’s main
office prior to entering the campus.
For information about the NASA Explorer Schools Program, visit:
http://explorerschools.nasa.gov
For more information about the Vision for Space Exploration, visit:
http://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/bush_vision.html
For information about NASA, visit:
