An estimated 650 educators from around the world are expected to attend
the Eighth Annual International Space Station Educators Conference on
February 1-2, 2002, in Houston, Texas.

Educators will get an up-close and personal look at the International
Space Station and hear the latest news direct from two American
astronauts now living on the station. The conference is being hosted by
Space Center Houston, the official visitors center of NASA’s Johnson
Space Center (JSC) with support from Boeing. The weekend seminar is
designed to inform educators about the station and enhance current
theories taught in the classroom with space education.

A live downlink from Astronauts Dan Bursch and Carl Walz is scheduled
for 9:46 a.m. CST Friday, Feb. 1, from the International Space Station.
Other guest speakers at the conference include Space Station Chief
Scientist Roger Crouch, NASA Headquarters; Astronauts Dan Burbank, Kent
Rominger, David Wolf and Expedition Two station astronauts Susan Helms
and Jim Voss, all in Houston, plus Astronaut Chris Hadfield, live from
Star City, Russia.

“This conference provides a unique opportunity to share the excitement
of the International Space Station to educators throughout the world, as
well as providing them with innovative methods for integrating this
exciting endeavor into the classroom to promote math, science and
technology,” said Susan Tortorici, Supervisor of Educational Programs,
Space Center Houston. “It’s also an excellent way for the attendees to
discover how to use space as a theme in teaching concepts with existing
classroom curriculum, and to meet the very people who are developing the
station.”

The largest conference to date — with participants from all 50 states,
Canada, Japan, and the Netherlands — includes a tour of full-scale
station mock-ups at JSC; a trip to the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory,
where astronauts train and practice for space station missions; a tour
of the X-38 Assembly Building, where engineers are developing
technologies that could be used in future station crew return vehicles;
and more than 100 sessions featuring teachers, scientists, engineers,
and other aerospace specialists.

Teachers will participate in numerous hands-on, interactive sessions,
such as building and launching rockets, constructing their own
spacesuits, assembling a space station model and preparing astronaut
food.

The International Space Station Educators Conference is hosted annually
by Space Center Houston with the support of Boeing, NASA/Johnson Space
Center, and Southwest Airlines.