NASA and Challenger Center supports educational space broadcast with school children
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 scheduled for Monday, October 20th at 12:30pm 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 . The time of the event is tentative, and may change due to space station schedule changes, so stay tuned to the challenger Center website for the latest information.
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 plan to record video blogs for students and play 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.
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 .
KZO provides live Internet webcasting services to businesses, governments, individuals, and educational organizations. With a full range of live, scheduled, or on-demand services, KZO web casting supports training programs and large group events. The technology includes a customized Flash video interface for interactive collaboration and communication and is hosted on KZO’s 8 Gigabit optical network.
Rita Karl, Director of Educational Programs
Challenger Center for Space Science Education, Alexandria, VA
03-535-1345; [ mailto:rkarl@challenger.org ]rkarl@challenger.org
KZO Innovations is located at The Center for Innovative Technology
2214 Rock Hill Road, #020, Herndon, Virginia 20170
703-899-5536; staff@kzonetworks.com
To request an interview with Richard Garriott, please contact:
Stacey Tearne, Space Adventures
703-894-2192, stearne@spaceadventures.com
