A group of outstanding high school students from Japan who had their experiments fly on Space Shuttle mission STS-107 will be at Kennedy Space Center (KSC) on Aug. 20. They will meet with many outstanding American high school students and pay tribute to the Columbia crew.
The National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) and the KSC International Space Station and Payloads Processing Directorate are working with the NASA KSC Education Programs and University Research Division to coordinate the students’ visit.
“Following completion of mission STS-107, NASDA was to award the high school with a visit to KSC,” said KSC Education Office Program Manager Patricia Gillis. “Despite the inability to retrieve the crystal protein experiment samples, NASDA decided to award the Urawa Daiichi Girls High School, Urawa, Japan, with the trip to encourage continued interest in space.”
“We would like the students to develop a friendly relationship with Americans for their future, to share what they learned, and to remain interested in space,” said NASDA KSC resident office representative, Shimpei Takahashi. “We would like them to remember this precious experience and to build confidence with their great achievement.”
The group will meet with students from Eau Gallie High School, Melbourne, Fla., and with students from Terry Parker High School and Stanton College Preparatory High School, Jacksonville, Fla. The future scientists will honor the Columbia crew with a floral tribute at the STS-107 memorial stone at the Spacehab facility in Cape Canaveral, Fla., at 9 a.m., Aug. 20.
For additional information, please contact Tracy Young at the KSC News Center at 321-867-2468.
