MEDIA RELATIONS OFFICE

JET PROPULSION LABORATORY

CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

NATIONAL AERONAUTICS AND SPACE ADMINISTRATION

PASADENA, CALIF. 91109 TELEPHONE (818) 354-5011

Contact: Nancy Lovato (818) 354-0474

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NASA’s “Space Place” — an educational program and Web site
designed for young students — has recently welcomed its 100th
partner and first aquarium, the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Ky.

Space Place, developed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s
New Millennium Program, provides display materials and hands-on
activities to its partner museums and libraries — and now an
aquarium — in 43 states. The program has been targeted to
include small- and mid-sized cities that do not have major space
exhibits.

“Space Place takes NASA to the heartland,” said Nancy Leon,
outreach coordinator and producer of Space Place’s web site. “We
want to encourage the natural curiosity that children have for
learning and developing new interests.”

The Web site features a map and list of all the Space Place
partners, in addition to hands-on experiments. “Dr. Marc’s
Amazing Facts,” a set of space science questions with detailed
explanations geared towards students written by Dr. Marc Rayman,
JPL’s Deep Space 1 chief mission engineer, is another highlight
of the site.

Partners set up bulletin boards in their display areas with
space-themed items such as press clippings and children’s
drawings. Started last year, the Space Place’s award-winning Web
site is located at http://spaceplace.jpl.nasa.gov

Materials provided to Space Place partners include the
latest NASA mission posters, lithographs and postcards, in
addition to information and activities that can be printed from
the Web site. Space Place is designed to interest and involve
students in science and space exploration. The Web site offers
learning activities such as a recipe for “El Nino Pudding,” along
with an explanation, with graphics, of the climate condition
called El Nino. A downloadable board game offers an imaginary
intergalactic adventure to a black hole in “Spacey Things to Do.”
“Space Science in Action” offers experiments such as launching
“rockets” and solving extraterrestrial riddles.

JPL is managed for NASA by the California Institute of
Technology in Pasadena.

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